Patient bed having translatable siderail for bed exit

ABSTRACT

A number of patient beds are disclosed. Some patient beds have siderails that are movable by a patient so that the patient can egress from the bed without interference from the siderails. Various caregiver control panels and patient control panels for controlling features and functions of a patient bed are also disclosed. For example, a cart with caregiver control inputs, including hand inputs on a graphical user interface (GUI) and foot inputs, is disclosed. Patient positioning and transfer devices are also disclosed. Various types of in-bed physical therapy devices are also disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/257,058, filed Sep. 6, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/640,182, filedMar. 6, 2015, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,463,126, which claims thebenefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/951,236, which was filed Mar. 11, 2014, and each of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to controllers for patient beds andfeatures of bed frames of patient beds that are typically found inhealthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to bed frames havingenhanced patient and caregiver interaction such as controlling overallbed functionality, siderail positioning for bed exit, patientrepositioning within a bed, transfer of a patient from a bed, andpatient therapy.

SUMMARY

An apparatus, system, or method may comprise one or more of the featuresrecited in the appended claims and/or the following features which,alone or in any combination, may comprise patentable subject matter:

A bed control cart for controlling features of a patient bed may includea wheeled base with foot inputs, a support extending upwardly from thewheeled base, a GUI supported by the support, the GUI displaying handinputs, and circuitry configured to send wireless signals to control thefeatures of the bed in response to use of each of the foot inputs andhand inputs of the bed control cart.

In some embodiments, the foot inputs may control raising and lowering ofan upper frame of the patient bed relative to a base of the patient bed.Alternatively or additionally, the foot inputs may control tilting ofthe upper frame of the patient bed between Trendelenburg and reverseTrendelenburg positions.

The wheeled base may include a set of casters. The support of the bedcontrol cart may comprise a pole. The GUI may be mounted to an upper endor top of the pole. A tray may be mounted to the pole beneath the GUI.

In some embodiments, the hand inputs may control motors that may movemattress support deck sections of the patient bed. Alternatively oradditionally, the hand inputs may control a pneumatic system that mayinflate and deflate portions of a mattress of the patient bed. Forexample, the hand inputs may control a mattress therapy function of amattress of the patient bed. The mattress therapy functions may includeone or more of the following: a rotation therapy, an alternatingpressure therapy, a percussion therapy, a vibration therapy, and a lowairloss therapy. Further alternatively or additionally, the hand inputsmay control a turn assist function of the patient bed.

In some embodiments, the hand inputs may control a scale system of thebed. The circuitry may be configured to receive wireless communicationsfrom the patient bed. The wireless communications from the patient bedmay include information relating to one or more alarms occurring on thepatient bed. The GUI may, in turn, display information pertaining to theone or more alarms. Alternatively or additionally, the wirelesscommunications from the patient bed may include information relating toa patient weight as measure by a scale system of the patient bed.

In some embodiments, the wireless communications from the patient bedmay include information received by the patient bed from a network of ahealthcare facility. The hand inputs may be usable to lockout functionsof the patient bed from being controlled by user inputs on the patientbed. Optionally, each of the hand controls and foot controls may be ableto be locked out from use by user inputs on the patient bed.Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry may be configured to sendwireless signals to control features of at least one other piece ofhealthcare equipment in response to use of any one or more of the footinputs and the hand inputs.

In some embodiments, the circuitry of the bed control cart maycommunicatively pair with bed circuitry of the bed after the bed controlcart is brought into a patient room in which the patient bed is located.Furthermore, the circuitry may communicatively pair with bed circuitryof other patient beds in other patient rooms after the bed control cartis brought into respective rooms of the other patient beds. At least oneuser input selection on the hand controls of the GUI may be aprerequisite to the communicative pairing between the circuitry and thebed circuitry. Alternatively or additionally, at least one user inputselection on the foot controls may be a prerequisite to thecommunicative pairing between the circuitry and the bed circuitry.Further alternatively or additionally, at least one user input selectionon at least one user input of the patient bed may be a prerequisite tothe communicative pairing between the circuitry and the bed circuitry.

A patient bed may have foot rails that may be movable by a patient inthe bed to an out-of-the-way position to permit the patient to egressfrom the bed. The foot rails may slide relative to a bed frame of thepatient bed in a longitudinal direction of the bed. A portion of thefoot rails may slide relative to a head rail of the patient bed.

A patient bed may have a head rail with a button that is pressed by apatient in the bed to cause motorized lowering of a foot rail of thepatient bed.

A patient bed may have a foot rail and linkage system that is manuallyslideable as a unit on a rail of an upper frame of a bed when a patientactuates a release lever of the foot rail.

A patient bed may have a hub mounted to an upper frame of the patientbed. A head rail and a foot rail may each be pivotably coupled to thehub and may be moveable relative to the hub between respective raisedand lowered positions.

A patient bed may have a mattress support deck including a head sectionhaving turn assist panels that are cam driven to raised positions.

A patient bed may have an upper frame and a graphical user interface(GUI) mounted to a top of an arm that has its bottom end coupled to theupper frame. The arm and GUI may be repositionable as a unit along theupper frame.

In some embodiments, the GUI may comprise a transparent patient controlpanel mounted to the arm assembly. The transparent patient control panelmay be operable in a day mode and a night mode. Images on thetransparent patient control panel may be controlled via organiclight-emitting diode/heads up display (OLED/HUD) technology. The arm mayhave a first arm segment that may extend upwardly from a head decksection and a second arm segment that may extend from an upper end ofthe first arm over the head deck section.

A patient bed may have a siderail that moves to a raised positionelevated over a central region of a mattress of the patient bed for useas part of a patient lift of the patient bed.

A patient bed may have physical therapy equipment integrated therein.For example, the physical therapy equipment may be integrated into asiderail or footboard of the bed. The physical therapy equipment may beattachable to an upper frame of the bed.

A patient bed may have lift posts at corners of an upper frame andsiderails coupled to the lift posts by respective multi-axis joints.

A mattress for a patient bed may have siderail pads coupled to a mainmattress body and the main mattress body may have recesses in anundersurface thereof for storage of the siderail pads.

A patient bed may have a GUI with a sensor to sense movements of apatient's hand at a distance so that a patient is able to controlfeatures of the patient bed without directly touching the GUI. In someembodiments, a hand avatar may be shown on the GUI when the sensorsenses the patient's hand.

A control module for a patient bed may include a first pendant and asecond pendant that may be held in place against the first pendant by aspring loaded clamp. In some embodiments, the first pendant may have bedcontrols and the second pendant may have a nurse call button.

A patient bed may have a port that may be connectable to a handheldelectronic device to recharge the handheld electronic device and todownload bed control software to the handheld electronic device. Thehandheld electronic device may comprise a phone or a tablet computer,for example.

In some embodiments, the patient bed may include a frame that may have abarrier extending upwardly with respect to a patient support surface andthe port may be provided on the barrier. For example, the barrier maycomprise a siderail. Optionally, user inputs may be coupled to thesiderail to control one or more features of the patient bed. Thesiderail may comprise a first siderail and the patient bed may furtherinclude a shelf and a second siderail that may be spaced from the firstsiderail. The shelf may be attached to the second siderail, for example.The shelf may be pivotable relative to the second siderail to aplurality of positions. The patient bed may include a mattress and theshelf may be pivotable relative to the second siderail between a firstposition overlying the mattress and a second position extending in anopposite direction away from the mattress.

In some embodiments, a control panel housing may be pivotable relativeto the siderail between a raised position and a lowered position. Thecontrol panel housing may move upwardly out of a recess in the siderailwhen moving from the lowered position to the raised position. Thepatient bed may include a mattress and the control panel housing maycarry caregiver controls that may face away from the mattress when thecontrol panel housing is in the raised position and the control-panelhousing may have patient controls that may be provided on an edge of thecontrol panel housing.

A patient bed may have a control module with caregiver controls on onesurface and having patient controls on another surface.

A patient bed may have a control module that may include a generallyvertical arm extending upwardly from a base of the patient bed, a GUImounted to an upper end of the arm, and at least one foot pedal mountedto a lower end of the arm. The GUI and at least one foot pedal may beused to send wireless signals to other bed electronics of the patientbed. In some embodiments, the control module may be repositionable alongthe base. Alternatively or additionally, a housing for the GUI may havepatient controls on a back wall thereof.

A siderail may have a trough along its upper edge for receipt of patientcare lines.

A patient bed may have a GUI in a siderail that may deploy automaticallyout of a cavity in a siderail to a use position in response to a brakepedal of the patient bed being moved to a brake position to brakecasters of the patient bed. The GUI may be moved automatically back intothe cavity in response to the brake pedal being moved to anotherposition other than the brake position.

A patient bed may have a sensor to sense presence of a user's foot in adesignated region and movement of the user's foot into the designatedregion may cause a preselected feature of the patient bed to operate.

The patient bed may further have a control panel that may be used toselect the preselected feature from among a plurality of bed features tobed operated subsequently by movement of the user's foot into thedesignated region. The patient bed may have a frame that may include abase frame and an upper frame supported above the base frame. Thecontrol panel may be coupled to the upper frame. The designated regionmay be defined by a light curtain beneath the base frame. Interruptionof the light curtain by the user's foot may result in operation of thepreselected feature. For example, the patient bed may have a mattressand the preselected feature may include a turn assist function of themattress.

A patient bed may have a siderail with an integrated line clip.

A patient bed may have a drainage bag holder including a bar and asensor to sense when a drainage bag is coupled to the bar.

The drainage bag holder may be located at a foot end of an upper frameof the bed. The drainage bag holder may include a substantiallyvertically oriented plate and the bar may be pivotably coupled to thesubstantially vertically oriented plate. In some embodiments, pivot tabsmay extend from the plate and the bar may be pivotably coupled to thepivot tabs. The drainage bag holder may further include a pair ofcosmetic trim pieces that may be situated on the substantiallyvertically oriented plate between respective pairs of pivot tabs.

In some embodiments, the sensor may include a limit switch that may bereceived in a hole formed in the substantially vertically orientedplate. The limit switch may have a lever that is contacted and moved toa closed position by an arm that may extend from a shelf of the bar whenthe drainage bag is attached to the bar.

A patient bed may have a footboard that flips up to serve as an overbedtable.

A patient bed may have a footboard that flips down to serve as a footdeck extension for the patient bed.

A patient bed may have a footboard with telescopic segments that maymove between extended and retracted positions.

A patient bed may have a footboard with an integrated television unit.The television unit may store downwardly in a footboard body and mayraise upwardly out of the footboard body for viewing.

A patient bed may project a lighted bed exit zone image onto a floor ata side of the bed.

In some embodiments, the lighted bed exit zone image may include textthat may indicate a status of a position of an upper frame of the bedrelative to a lower frame of the bed. For example, the text may includethe words “BED NOT LOW” if the upper frame of the bed is not in alowered position relative to the lower frame. The words “EXIT ZONE” alsomay appear in the lighted bed exit zone image in some embodiments. Thelighted bed exit zone image may be generally semicircular in overallshape but all other shapes are within the scope of this disclosure.

A patient bed may light up an icon on a footboard to notify a patientnot to get out of the bed.

A patient bed may light up icons on a footboard to indicate a status ofmonitored features of the patient bed.

The icons may be illuminated green to indicate a satisfactory status ofan associated monitored bed feature. The icons may be illuminated acolor other than green to indicate an unsatisfactory status of theassociated monitored condition. The icons may be unlit if the associatedfeature of the bed is not being monitored. The icons may comprisetranslucent portions of a wall of the footboard. The patient bed mayfurther include lights that may be situated behind the translucentportions.

A patient bed may project icons onto a floor near a foot end of the bedand may project a message onto the floor near a side of the bed.

In some embodiments, each of the icons may indicate a status of arespective monitored feature of the bed. The message may advise thepatient to call a nurse if the patient desires to get out of the bed.The icons may be illuminated green to indicate a satisfactory status ofan associated monitored feature. The icons may be illuminated a colorother than green to indicate an unsatisfactory status of the associatedmonitored feature. In some embodiments, each icon is not projected ontothe floor if the associated feature of the bed is not being monitored.

A patient bed may have a footboard with a foot warmer.

A patient bed may have a camera that automatically takes a picture of apatient on the bed when a weight scale reading is taken. In someembodiments, the weight reading and the picture may be transmitted fromthe bed to a remote computer.

A patient bed may have sensors in surfaces of the bed to sense whetherthe bed is clean or dirty and may have a display to indicate whether thebed is clean or dirty.

In some embodiments, the surfaces of the bed having at least one of thesensors may include a surface of a siderail of the bed. Alternatively oradditionally, the surfaces of the bed having at least one of the sensorsmay include a surface of an endboard of the bed. In some embodiments,the sensors may detect cleaning agents. The patient bed may include alighted sign that may display a message to indicate whether the bed isclean or dirty. The lighted sign may be coupled to a footboard of thebed, for example. The lighted sign may face away from a mattress of thebed. In response to the sensors indicating that the bed is clean and inresponse to a weigh scale system indicating a patient is not on the bed,the weigh scale system may be automatically zeroed.

A patient bed may have nozzles through which a disinfectant mist issprayed onto surfaces of the bed.

A patient bed may have integrated UV lights to disinfect surfaces of thebed.

A patient bed may have an egress seat that may deploy out of an upperframe of the bed for a patient to sit during egress. A wheeled chair maydock with the egress seat. The wheeled chair may have arms that may bereceived by channels at the sides of the egress seat when the wheeledchair is docked to the egress seat.

In some embodiments, the egress seat may deploy laterally outwardly fromthe upper frame in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longdimension of the bed. The arms may be configured so that the patientstands between the arms when moving from the egress seat onto a set ofthe wheeled chair. The arms and channels may be substantially at thesame elevation and oriented horizontally when an upper frame of the bedis in a lowered position relative to base of the bed.

A patient bed may have a frame, a siderail that may be coupled to theframe and that may be moveable relative to the frame between a raisedposition and a lowered position, and an egress handle that may bemovable upwardly out of a top opening of the siderail from a storageposition to a use position. An upper end region of the egress handle maybe gripped by a patient during egress from the bed when the siderail isin the lowered position.

The siderail may comprise a foot rail and the patient bed may furtherinclude a head rail that may be coupled to the frame. The siderail mayinclude a siderail body that may have a channel and the egress handlemay be received in the channel for movement between the storage and usepositions. The channel may be inclined such that the egress handle maymove within the channel along a path that is neither horizontal norvertical.

The egress handle may have a recess that may facilitate the patientgripping the upper end region. The patient bed may further include alock to lock the egress handle in the raised position relative to thesiderail.

In some embodiments, the patient bed may further have a second egresshandle that may be movable relative to the siderail. For example, thesecond egress handle may be extendable horizontally from a head end of abody of the siderail to provide a grip handle for use by a patientduring egress from the bed when the siderail is in the raised position.

A patient bed may include a frame and a siderail that may be coupled tothe frame. The siderail may have a main body and a shelf may be coupledto the main body. The shelf may have a use position extending from thesiderail in a cantilevered manner. The patient bed may also have aninductive charger that may be coupled to the shelf. The inductivecharger may be operable to inductively recharge electrical devicesplaced upon the shelf.

The shelf may be movable relative to the siderail between the useposition and a storage position. The inductive charger may be situatedbeneath an upper surface of the shelf. For example, the inductivecharger may be situated in an interior region of the shelf. Theinductive charger may be supported by an upper surface of the shelf. Forexample, the inductive charger may be embedded in a recess in the uppersurface of the shelf. In such embodiments, an upper surface of theinductive charger and the upper surface of a remainder of shelf aroundthe recess may be substantially coplanar. The electrical devices thatthe inductive charger may be operable to inductively recharge includeone or more of the following: a smart phone, a tablet computer, and alaptop computer.

A patient bed may include a frame that may have an upper frame andgenerally vertical lift legs at corners of the upper frame. At least onecaster shroud may have at least one aperture through which acorresponding one of the lift legs may extend.

The lift legs may extend and retract such that the at least one shroudand the upper frame may move upwardly and downwardly relative to thelift legs. The patient bed may have at least one caster beneath the atleast one caster shroud and when the lift legs are fully retracted, theupper frame may be in a lowered position having the at least one casterengaging a floor beneath the at least one caster shroud. When the liftlegs are extended from the fully retracted position, the at least onecaster may be moved upwardly out of contact with the floor. The at leastone caster shroud may be coupled to the upper frame to move upwardly anddownwardly therewith as the lift legs extend and retract.

A patient bed may include a frame, a footboard that may be coupled tothe frame, an arm that may extend from the footboard over a patientsupport surface of the frame, and a control unit that may be mounted toan end of the arm. The control unit may include a graphical userinterface (GUI) and a sensor to sense movements of a patient's hand at adistance so that a patient may be able to control features of thepatient bed without directly touching the GUI.

In some embodiments, a hand avatar may be shown on the GUI when thesensor senses the patient's hand. The control unit may include at leastone grip handle arranged to be grabbed by a patient during egress fromthe patient bed. The at least one grip handle may be located below theGUI. The patient bed may further include caregiver controls that may belocated on a side of the control unit.

A patient bed may include a frame that may have a first end and a secondend. The first end of the frame may include a laterally extending rail.A collar may be mounted to the rail and may be repositionable along therail. An oxygen tank holder may be attached to the collar to move withthe collar along the rail.

In some embodiments, the oxygen tank holder may include a cylindricalwall. The oxygen tank holder may be offset from the collar by an arm.The rail may be arched in some embodiments. The rail may be generallytriangular in cross section and the collar may be shaped complementaryto the rail

The patient bed may further include a patient helper that may have afirst arm portion that may extend upwardly from the collar and a secondarm portion that may extend in a generally horizontal cantileveredmanner from an upper end of the first arm portion over a patient supportsurface of the frame. The patient helper may further include a third armportion that may telescopically extend and retract relative to thesecond arm portion.

In some embodiments, the patient helper may include a grab bar that mayhang at a lower end of a tether that may extend downwardly from an endof the third arm portion. The grab bar may be generally triangular inshape. The grab bar may include a tubular portion that may have a pairof hand grip areas. The grab bar may include a patient control housingwith patient controls that may be used to control one or more functionsof the patient bed.

A patient bed may include a patient position monitoring system that mayhave a first mode of operation in which an alarm may be generated at thepatient bed and an alert message may be sent to a nurse call system inresponse to a threshold amount of movement of a patient relative to thepatient bed. The patient position monitoring system may have a secondmode of operation in which an alert may be sent to the nurse call systembut no alarm may be generated at the patient bed in response to thethreshold amount of movement of the patient relative to the patient bed.

In some embodiments, the patient position monitoring system may have athird mode of operation in which an alarm may be generated at thepatient bed and an alert message may be sent to a nurse call system inresponse the patient moving by a lesser amount than the threshold amountrelative to the patient bed. The lesser amount may correspond, forexample, to the patient sitting up in the patient bed or moving to theedge of the patient bed. The threshold amount of the first and secondmodes may correspond to the patient being out of the bed, if desired.

The patient bed may further include a patient exit assist input that,when selected, may result in at least one siderail of the patient bedmoving automatically from a raised position to a lowered position.Alternatively or additionally, selection of the patient exist assistinput may cause a head section of a mattress support deck of the patientbed to raise to a predetermined position if the head section is lowerthan the predetermined position when the patient exit assist input isselected. Alternatively or additionally, selection of the patient exitassist input may cause a thigh and foot section of a mattress supportdeck of the patient bed to lower if they are raised when the patientexist assist input is selected. Alternatively or additionally, selectionof the patient exit assist input may cause at least one bladder of anair mattress to be inflated to a target pressure if the bladder has alower pressure than the target pressure when the patient exit assistinput is selected. In some embodiments, the at least one bladder mayinclude or be included in a seat section of the air mattress.

In some embodiments, an exit assist alert may be sent from the patientbed to a nurse call system in response to the selection of the patientexit assist input. Alternatively or additionally, a night light of thepatient bed may be illuminated brighter in response to the selection ofthe patient exit assist input. In some embodiments, the patient exitassist input may include a button that may be selected by pressing thebutton.

According to this disclosure, a system may include a patient bed thatmay include a scale system and a radio frequency identification (RFID)tag reader. The system may also have one or more RFID tags that may beprogrammable with equipment weight data. The RFID tags may be attachableto respective equipment to be added to the patient bed. The RFID tagreader may read the RFID tags of the equipment added to the bed. Inresponse to the RFID tag reader reading the RFID tag of correspondingequipment added to the bed, the scale system may recalculate a tareweight to account for a weight of the equipment added to the bed.

A mattress control box may comprises the equipment added to the bedalthough the RFID tags may be used in connection with any desiredequipment that may be added to a bed. In some embodiments, each of theRFID tags may include a connector, such as a universal serial bus (USB)connector. Each of the RFID tags may include a cover that may beremovable from the remainder of the respective RFID tag to expose theUSB connector.

The may further include a computer and the USB connector of the RFID tagmay be coupled to a USB port of the computer to be programmed by thecomputer with the equipment weight data of respective equipment.Alternatively or additionally, the USB connector of the RFID tag may becoupled to a USB port of the computer to have a battery of the RFID tagcharged.

Also according to this disclosure, a patient bed may include a siderailthat may have a urinal dock. The urinal dock may include a recess for ahandle of a urinal. The siderail may include a coupling bar that mayextend across the recess to retain the handle of the urinal in therecess when the urinal is docked to the siderail. The recess may be openat a top edge of the siderail.

In some embodiments, the siderail may further include a grab handle thatmay be below the recess. Alternatively or additionally, the siderail mayinclude a channel that may be configured to receive a portion of acontrol pendant alongside the recess. For example, the channel may becomplementary in shape to a shaped edge of the control pendant. Ifdesired, a top edge of the siderail may include a line manager. The linemanager may comprise a notch that may be situated alongside an openingto the recess that may be located at the top edge of the siderail.

Many other patient bed embodiments and features are disclosed below.Thus, additional features, which alone or in combination with any otherfeature(s), such as those listed above and those listed in the claims,may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of various embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the embodiments as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a patient bed having four siderailsincluding a pair of foot rails that each overlap a respective head railof a pair of head rails, each foot rail being manually movable by apatient;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 1 showing a patientbeing supported by the bed and showing the foot rails in a firstposition blocking egress of the patient from the bed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bed, similar to FIG. 2, showing thepatient having manually moved one of the foot rails to a secondposition, a foot end of the foot rail having been translated along anupper frame of the bed and a head end of the foot rail having beentranslated along the head rail;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bed, similar to FIG. 3, showing thepatient having further manually moved one of the foot rails to a thirdposition so that the patient is able to egress from the bed, the footend of the foot rail having been translated further along the upperframe of the bed and the head end of the foot rail having beentranslated further along the head rail;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another patient bed having foursiderails including a pair of foot rails that each overlap a respectivehead rail of a pair of head rails, a foot end of each foot rail having adownwardly extending arm that carries an anti-friction element, such asa roller, that is received in a slot formed in a frame member of anupper frame of the bed, and a head end of each foot rail including aslider that couples to an elongated middle tube of the associated headrail;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one of the foot rails in anextended position relative to the associated head rail such that theslider is near a foot end of the head rail;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the foot rail moved to a retractedposition relative to the head rail such that the slider is near a headend of the head rail;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another patient bed having a button on ahead rail that is pressed by a patient to initiate motorized lowering ofan associated foot rail;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view of the button of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the foot rail having moved to alowered position to permit patient egress from the bed;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bed havinga foot rail with a lever that is accessible in a hand hole and that isused by a patient to release the foot rail for translational movementalong a frame of the bed, a grip handle over the hand hole having astepped bottom surface to provide grip areas for the patient to holdonto while moving the foot rail in increments toward a head end of thebed;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the patient bed of FIG. 11 showing thefoot rail having been moved out of the way toward the head end of thebed to permit patient egress from the bed and showing a pendulum cupholder on one of the head rails that maintains a drink cup in a verticalorientation even when the head section and head rails are raised;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing a foot railbeing rotated by a patient about a hub to a vertical position to permitpatient egress from the bed, a head rail also being coupled to the hub;

FIG. 14 is a side view of the foot rail, the head rail, and the hubshowing the foot rail and the head rail each being in a respectivelowered position;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a mattress support deck showing leftand right turn assist panels coupled to a head section of the deck andshowing the left turn assist panel being articulated upwardly by a camattached to a longitudinally extending shaft;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a patient bed that includes themattress support deck of FIG. 15 showing a mattress having a portionlifted upwardly by the articulated left turn assist panel;

FIG. 17 is perspective view of a portion of another patient bed showinghead and foot rails on one side of a mattress remaining in horizontalalignment even though a head section of a mattress is raised and showinga head rail on an opposite side of the mattress including a head railportion that pivots upwardly to provide additional egress barriercoverage in the region of the raised head section;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of one of the head rails of FIG. 17showing a push button near a head end of the head rail, a patientcontrol panel extending laterally from a foot end of the head rail, anda set of caregiver controls on an inclined surface near the foot end ofthe head rail;

FIG. 19 is a side view of the portion of the patient bed of FIG. 17showing the head rail portion pivoting upwardly automatically inresponse to the head section of the mattress being raised;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing a foot railin a lowered position and having an extendable egress handle raisedupwardly within an inclined channel formed in a foot rail body toprovide a grip handle for use by a patient egressing from the bed whenthe foot rail is in the lowered position;

FIG. 21 is a side view of the foot rail of FIG. 20 showing theextendable egress handle raised upwardly within the inclined channel andshowing a second egress handle that is extendable horizontally from ahead end of the foot rail to provide a grip handle for use by a patientegressing from the bed when the foot rail is in a raised position;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged perspective view of the extendable egress handleand the inclined channel that guides the movement of the extendableegress handle;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a portion of yet another patient bedshowing head and foot rails each comprising a curved flexible panel andshowing a pair of curved guide posts that are located between respectivehead and foot rails to provide guide channels for a head end of therespective foot rail and a foot end of the respective head rail, a headboard having guide channels for head ends of the head rails, a footboard having guide channels for foot ends of the foot rails, and a pairof curved control panels that are extendable from channels formed atupper end regions of the guideposts;

FIG. 24 is a side view of the portion of the patient bed of FIG. 23showing the head and foot rails in respective lowered positions andshowing the guide post folded downwardly to a storage position;

FIG. 25 is a diagrammatic end view of part of the portion of the bed toshown the amount of curvature of one of the siderails;

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a patient bed containing the portion ofFIG. 23 showing the foot rails in lowered positions and showing the headrails in raised positions;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bed havinga head rail with a foot end portion pivoted to a head end portion formovement about a generally vertical pivot axis;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 27, showing the foot endportion of the head rail pivoted by about 90° relative to the head endportion of the head rail so that the foot rail portion extends away froman associated mattress to provide a grip handle for patient egress;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of another patient bed having foursiderails that each include an upper section that moves relative to alower section from a raised position to a lowered position such thatwhen the upper section is in the lowered position, the siderail iscompact and can be rotated outwardly away from the mattress and thenslid underneath the mattress for storage in an orientation substantiallyparallel with the mattress;

FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing a foot rail of the siderails inthe storage position;

FIG. 31 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 30, showing the foot railpulled out from under the mattress and rotated slightly upwardly;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 31, showing the foot railoriented vertically with the upper section raised relative to thelowered section;

FIG. 33 is a perspective view of still another patient bed;

FIG. 34 is an end elevation view of the bed of FIG. 33 showing that thebed has expandable width siderails and a repositionable caregivergraphical user interface (GUI) at the foot end of the bed adjacent acentral region of a footboard;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 33 showing the GUImoved to a corner region of an upper frame of the bed, a fold outoverbed table in a use position, and showing a patient's feet locatedagainst a footboard that includes a foot massager;

FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 33 showing one of thefoot rails lowered for patient egress having a first portion of footrail separated from and situated below a second portion of the foot railand showing a grip bar connected to a chair and to a base frame of thebed;

FIG. 37 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 36, showing the patientgripping a handle of the second portion of the foot rail and gripping ahandle of the head rail in preparation for standing up from the bed;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 36, showing the patientin a standing position and using the grip bar that interconnects thebase frame of the bed and the chair;

FIG. 39 is an end elevation view of a mattress support deck, a mattressand a pair of siderails, showing one of the siderails pivoting toward aposition parallel with an upper surface of the mattress for eventualstorage under the mattress support deck;

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of a model constructed in accordance withFIG. 39 showing a siderail in a storage position beneath a section ofthe mattress support deck;

FIG. 41 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 40, showing the siderailbeing pulled out from under the mattress support deck and being pivotedpartially toward a raised position;

FIG. 42 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 41, showing the siderailin the raised position;

FIG. 43A is a perspective view of a siderail assembly having upper andlower siderail body sections and a pair of linkage arms extending from abottom of the lower siderail body section;

FIG. 43B is a perspective view of one of the linkage arms showing thatthe linkage arm has X, Y and Z segments;

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of a model constructed in accordance withFIGS. 43A and 43B showing the siderail in a lowered position;

FIG. 45 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 44, showing a usergrabbing part of the upper siderail body section in preparation forraising the siderail;

FIG. 46 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 45, showing the userraising the siderail to an intermediate position;

FIG. 47 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 46, showing the siderailin the raised position;

FIG. 48 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing a patienthelper that is repositionable along a first laterally extending railadjacent a head end of the bed, a GUI that is repositionable along asecond laterally extending rail adjacent a foot end of the bed, and foursiderails providing barriers along left and right sides of a mattress ofthe bed to prevent a patient from falling out of the bed;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view of the patient bed of FIG. 48 showingfirst portions of each siderail adjacent central regions along the leftside of the bed pivoted by about 90° relative to second portions of thesiderails to provide an opening between the siderails through which thepatient is able to egress from the bed;

FIG. 50 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing that thebed frame of the bed lacks traditional siderails and showing a pair ofgrab bars in storage positions below a mattress support deck of the bed;

FIG. 51 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 50, showing barrier airbladders situated along the sides of the mattress inflated to providebarriers to inhibit the patient from falling out of the bed;

FIG. 52 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 51, showing the barrierair bladders at the sides of a foot section of the mattress being in adeflated state while the other barrier air bladders remain inflated;

FIG. 53 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 51, showing the barrierair bladder along one of the sides of the mattress deflated to permitpatient egress from the bed and showing the grab bars pivoted upwardlyto use positions to be gripped by a patient situated between the grabbars;

FIG. 54 is a lateral cross sectional view of the mattress of FIG. 51showing that the bladders, in the inflated state, create a barrier ofabout 6.5 inches high with respect to an upper surface of the centralregion of the mattress;

FIG. 55 is a lateral cross sectional view, similar to FIG. 54, showingthe bladders in the deflated state;

FIG. 56 is a perspective of another patient bed showing one of thesiderails of the bed being used as part of a patient lift system whenmoved to a raised position over a central region of a mattress of thebed;

FIG. 57 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 56, showing the liftsystem siderail moved to a position alongside the mattress to serve as atraditional siderail;

FIG. 58 is an exploded view of the lift system of the bed of FIGS. 56and 57 showing the various components of the lift system;

FIG. 59 is an exploded view showing a siderail body of the siderail ofFIGS. 56-58 exploded away from an L-shaped lift arm to which thesiderail body attaches;

FIG. 60 is an exploded view of a pivot housing of the lift system ofFIGS. 56-58 showing the components of the pivot housing;

FIG. 61 is a perspective view of still a further patient bed showing thebed having collapsible siderails with a vertically oriented center postserving as a siderail support in a central region of an upper frame ofthe bed and showing lift legs at the corner of the bed extending throughapertures formed in caster shrouds;

FIG. 62 is a side elevation view of the bed of FIG. 61 showing the liftlegs retracted to place the upper frame in a lowered position havingcasters engaging a floor beneath the caster shrouds, showing thesiderails in collapsed positions, and showing the center posts pivotedto a horizontally oriented storage position alongside the upper frame;

FIG. 63 is a perspective view of another patient bed having foursiderails each pivoted by a respective multi-axis joints to upperregions of lift posts at the corners of the bed, the multi-axis jointspermitting movement of each siderail from a use position extendinggenerally horizontally alongside a mattress of the bed and anout-of-the-way position extending generally vertically upwardly from theupper region of a respective lift post with a siderail body orientedgenerally parallel with an endboard of the bed;

FIG. 64 is a side elevation view of the bed of FIG. 63 showing the upperframe lowered with respect to the lift legs so that casters beneathcaster shrouds engage a floor;

FIG. 65 is a cross sectional view of one of the caster shrouds showing acaster that is braked when the caster shroud is lowered and that isunbraked when the caster shroud is raised;

FIG. 66 is a perspective view of a mattress having integrated siderailpads;

FIG. 67 is a perspective view of a portion of the bottom of the mattressshowing a mattress pad storage recess formed in an undersurface of themattress;

FIG. 68 is a perspective view of yet a further patient bed having arepositionable GUI located at a foot end corner region of the bed;

FIG. 69 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 68 with the GUI locatedat the foot end of the bed near a central region of a footboard of thebed;

FIG. 70 is a front elevation view of a touch screen display of the GUIof the bed of FIGS. 68 and 69 showing a patient controls screen thatappears on the GUI when the GUI is rotated to fact toward a patient;

FIG. 71 is a perspective view of the bed of FIGS. 68 and 69 showing apatient being able to select controls on the patient controls screenwithout touching screen due to hand motions within a sensor field of theGUI;

FIG. 72 is a perspective view of the GUI showing the sensor fielddiagrammatically;

FIG. 73 is a perspective view of the bed of FIGS. 68 and 69 showing theGUI alongside a mattress of the bed, the footboard of the bed having anintegrated sequential compression device attached to legs of thepatient, and a wireless patient remote control pendant coupled to asiderail of the bed;

FIG. 74 is a perspective view of the wireless patient remote controlpendant;

FIG. 75 is a perspective view of a patient control module that snapsonto an upper region of a siderail, the patient control module having amain body with user input buttons, a nurse call pendant that isdetachable from the main body, and a spring loaded clamp that retainsthe nurse call pendant in place relative to the main body;

FIG. 76 is a perspective view showing a snap clamp of the patientcontrol module;

FIG. 77 is a perspective view of the patient control module with thenurse call pendant detached from the main body;

FIG. 78 is a perspective view showing a first pendant including a springloaded retainer that holds a second pendant in position relative to thefirst pendant, the first pendant having bed control inputs and thesecond pendant having a nurse call button;

FIG. 79 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bed havinga shelf pivoted to a use position relative to a foot rail of the bed andhaving a port on a head rail of the bed that is used to charge wirelessdevices such as phones, tablet computers, and the like;

FIG. 80 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 79 showing the shelfbeing pivotable relative to the foot rail between a first positionoverlying a mattress of the bed and a second position extending in anopposite direction away from the mattress and showing a control panelhousing pivoted upwardly out of a recess in the head rail to a raisedposition, the control panel housing carrying caregiver controls thatface away from the mattress when the control panel housing is in theraised position and having patient controls on an edge of the controlpanel housing;

FIG. 81 is an end view of a portion of the bed of FIGS. 79 and 80showing the shelf in an intermediate position inclined upwardly from thefoot rail;

FIG. 82 is a portion of a display screen of the phone indicating thatbed control software can be downloaded to the phone and indicating thatthe phone is charging;

FIG. 83 is a perspective of another patient bed showing a patientholding a wireless pendant that is used to control bed functions and atelevision in the room, the bed having an IR receiver in a foot board toreceive signals from the wireless pendant, and the bed having a flipover control panel housing that is coupled to a head rail and that haspatient controls located on a side of the control panel housing;

FIG. 84 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 83 showing the controlpanel housing of one of the head rails in a first position withcaregiver controls facing away from the head rail and showing thecontrol panel housing of the other head rail flipped over to expose thepatient controls for use by a patient;

FIG. 85 is a perspective view of still another patient bed showing acontrol unit mounted to an end of an arm that extends from a top of afoot board toward a patient, showing the control unit having a graphicaldisplay screen and having a motion detector to detect movement of apatient's hand at a distance from the screen, showing caregiver controlslocation on a side of the control unit, and showing grip handles of thecontrol unit located below the graphical display screen;

FIG. 86 is a side view of the bed of FIG. 85 showing a patient grabbingone of the grip handles to assist with egress from the bed;

FIG. 87 is a perspective view of two patient beds showing that each bedhas a caregiver GUI located at an upper end of an arm that couples, atits lower end, to a base of the bed for sliding movement along alongitudinal dimension of the bed, showing foot pedals for bed controlextending from a lower end of the arm, and showing a repositionablepatient handle extending from a hub to which a head rail of the bedcouples;

FIG. 88 is an enlarged view of the GUI of FIG. 87 showing that a GUIhousing has patient controls on a back wall of the housing that facetoward a patient;

FIG. 89 is an enlarged view of a portion of one of the siderails of thebed of FIG. 87 showing that the siderail includes an integrated urinal;

FIG. 90 is a perspective view of an alternative siderail showing that anupper surface of the siderail is formed with a trough through whichpatient care lines are routable and showing a caregiver control panelflipped upwardly to a raised position;

FIG. 91 is a perspective view of a portion of another hospital bedshowing a U-shaped grab bar arching between mounts that are situatedadjacent head end corner regions of a mattress and showing a controlunit extending over a patient from a central region of the U-shaped grabbar, the control unit having caregiver controls on a sidewall thereofand the grab bar including hand grip areas with bumps on each side ofthe control unit;

FIG. 92 is a bottom plan view of an undersurface of the control unit andhand grip areas of FIG. 91 showing a patient control panel on the undersurface, an air flow fan on each side of the patient control panel,nurse call button above the patient control panel, and a light withadjacent on/off switch above the nurse call button;

FIG. 93 is a side view of the portion of the hospital bed of FIG. 91showing a patient reaching upwardly to engage the patient control paneland showing an arrow indicating that the U-shaped grab bar can be movedrelative to the pivot mounts so as not to obstruct patient egress;

FIG. 94 is a perspective view of yet another patient bed showing apatient helper having a first arm portion extending upwardly from amount collar that attaches to a horizontally oriented arched raillocated at a head end of the bed, a second arm portion extending in agenerally horizontal cantilevered manner from an upper end of the firstarm portion over a head section of a mattress and mattress support deckof the bed, a third arm portion that telescopically extends and retractsrelative to the second arm portion (as indicated by the double headedarrow), a trapeze grab bar hanging at a lower end of a tether thatextends downwardly from an end of the third arm portion, and acylindrical oxygen tank holder at an end of an arm that extends from abottom end of the first arm portion of the patient helper, the entirepatient helper being repositionable along the arched rail;

FIG. 95 is an enlarged perspective view of the trapeze grab bar showingthe trapeze grab bar being generally triangular in shape and having atriangular patient control housing with patient controls;

FIG. 96 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the patienthelper showing the mount collar on a portion of the arched rail andshowing a double headed arrow to indicate the ability to reposition thepatient helper along the arched rail;

FIG. 97 is perspective view of another patient bed showing a transparentpatient control panel mounted to an end of an articulated arm assemblythat has a first arm extending upwardly from a head deck section and asecond arm extending from an upper end of the first arm over the headdeck section;

FIG. 98 is a front elevation view of the transparent patient controlpanel showing the panel in a night mode, the images on the transparentpatient control panel being controlled via organic light-emittingdiode/heads up display (OLED/HUD) technology;

FIG. 99 is a perspective view of a further patient bed showing acaregiver control unit having a housing that serves as a central regionof a footboard;

FIG. 100 is a front elevation view of a footboard panel that snaps ontothe housing of the caregiver control unit, the footboard panel having acentral recess that receives a portion of the housing;

FIG. 101 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bedshowing a caregiver GUI being automatically pivoted out of a recess in asiderail to an ergonomic use position in response to a caster brakepedal being moved to a brake position to brake casters of the bed;

FIG. 102 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 101, showing thecaregiver GUI being automatically pivoted back into the recess in thesiderail to a storage position in response to the caster brake pedalbeing moved to a neutral or steer position;

FIG. 103 is a perspective view of a hospital room showing a caregiverusing a caregiver universal remote cart to control a patient bed andother patient care equipment in the room;

FIG. 104 is a perspective view of the caregiver universal remote cartshowing a GUI mounted to a top of a pole, a tray mounted to the polebeneath the GUI, a base with casters coupled to a lower end of the pole,and the base having foot operated controls to control features of thepatient bed;

FIG. 105 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 103, showingdiagrammatic wireless signals between the caregiver universal remotecart and some of the equipment in the hospital room;

FIG. 106 is a perspective view of still another patient bed showing acaregiver selecting a bed feature on a control panel that the caregiverintends to operate hands free;

FIG. 107 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 106, showing thecaregiver repositioning a patient on a mattress of the patient bed;

FIG. 108 is a perspective view, similar to FIGS. 106 and 107, showingthe caregiver moving his foot to interrupt a light curtain that resultsin operation of the bed feature that the caregiver previously selectedusing the control panel;

FIG. 109 is a front elevation view of a caregiver GUI used to controlfeatures and functions of a hospital bed;

FIG. 110 is a front elevation view of a phone having bed controlsdisplayed on its display screen for use in controlling features andfunctions of a hospital bed;

FIG. 111 is a perspective view of a siderail having a first style ofcaregiver control panel mounted in a recess of a siderail body;

FIG. 112 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 111, showing a secondstyle of caregiver control panel mounted to the siderail body andpivoted out of the recess, the control panel including a housing havinga brow projecting from its upper end to inhibit a patient from accessinguser inputs of the control panel;

FIG. 113 is a perspective view of another patient bed having caregivercontrol panels located on bottom portions of grip handles that extendfrom upper regions of a footboard toward a head end of the bed;

FIG. 114 is a top plan view of the patient bed of FIG. 113 showing acaregiver using one of the control panels of the footboard grip handles;

FIG. 115 is a perspective view of a head rail of the patient bed ofFIGS. 113 and 114 showing the head rail having a grip handle at its footend that pivots about 90° relative to a siderail body of the head railto assist in patient egress;

FIG. 116 is a perspective view of a patient bed having a telescopic liftsystem;

FIG. 117 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing an upperportion of the bed mounted to a first type of base and lift system;

FIG. 118 is a perspective view of the first type of base and lift systemof the bed of FIG. 117;

FIG. 119 is a perspective view showing the upper portion of the bed ofFIG. 117 mounted to a second type of lift system that includes verticallift tubes attached to corner regions of the upper portion of the bed;

FIG. 120 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the vertical lifttubes;

FIG. 121 is a perspective view of yet another patient bed having asingle lift column that extends vertically between a base frame and anupper frame of the bed;

FIG. 122 is a perspective view of a further patient bed similar to thepatient bed of FIGS. 23-26 showing a vertically oriented spiral liftmechanism extending between a laterally extending base portion and anupper frame of the bed;

FIG. 123 is a side elevation view of the bed of FIG. 122 showing theupper frame moved to a lowered position relative to a base of the bed;

FIG. 124 is a perspective view of a portion of an upper region of asiderail showing a line management clip in an opened position pivotedupwardly out of a line receiving recess to allow patient care lines tobe routed through the recess;

FIG. 125 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 124, showing the linemanagement clip moved to a closed position to engage and retain thepatient care lines in the recess;

FIG. 126 is a perspective view showing a pair of line managers attachedto a top of a respective siderail of a patient bed;

FIG. 127 is a side elevation view of one of the siderails and linemanagers of FIG. 126 showing a double headed arrow that indicates thatthe line manager is slideable along the top of the siderail forrepositioning;

FIG. 128 is a perspective view of another patient bed having a base witha central portion that raises and lowers relative to caster bracketsthat are situated on opposite sides of the central portion;

FIG. 129 is a perspective view of a portion of the bed of FIG. 128showing a caregiver stepping downwardly on a foot pedal to move thecentral portion of the base downwardly;

FIG. 130 is an end elevation view of a portion of the base showing acaster attached to a caster bracket and a linkage mechanism thatinterconnects the caster bracket with the central portion of the baseand that allows for the central portion of the base to raise and lowerrelative to the caster bracket;

FIG. 131 is a perspective view of another patient bed;

FIG. 132 is a perspective view of a portion of the patient bed of FIG.131 showing an upper frame of the bed including longitudinal framemembers each having a central section dropped downwardly relative tohead end and foot end portions of the longitudinal frame members;

FIG. 133 is a perspective view of a patient bed showing an exercisemachine mounted to the patient bed;

FIG. 134 is a perspective view of a seat of the exercise machine;

FIG. 135 is a perspective view showing a portion of a foot deck sectionof the bed and a portion of a foot panel of the exercise machine, thefoot panel being coupled to a bar that inserts into a slot formed in thefoot deck section to couple the foot panel to the bed;

FIG. 136 is a perspective view of the exercise machine decoupled fromthe bed and folded up for transport by a caregiver;

FIG. 137 is a side elevation view of the folded up exercise machinebeing pulled by a caregiver;

FIG. 138 is a perspective view of still another patient bed showing oneof the foot rails of the bed in a raised position and having a footpedal that a patient moves back and forth with the patient's foot aspart of physical therapy;

FIG. 139 is an exploded view of one of the foot rails of the bed of FIG.138 showing components of a therapy device that is located inside thefoot rail between panels of the foot rail, the therapy device includinga slotted plate having a slider that attaches to a gas cylinder damperand that slides along the plate within the slot, the foot pedal havingan arm that extends through a slot in one of the foot rail panels andpivotably couples to the slider, the panel of the foot rail having astorage recess that receives the foot pedal when not in use;

FIG. 140 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing a patientlying on a mattress of the bed and showing a footboard of the bed havinga pedal mechanism being used by the patient for physical therapy;

FIG. 141 is a perspective view of the bed of FIG. 140 showing the bed ina chair position and showing the patient using the pedal mechanism whilein a sitting position on the bed;

FIG. 142 is a perspective view of the footboard of the bed of FIGS. 140and 142 showing the pedal mechanism received in a recess of thefootboard for storage;

FIG. 143 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 142, showing the pedalmechanism deployed out of the recess for use by a patient;

FIG. 144 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing a foot padwith a heel support and foot anchor straps attached to a foot board ofthe bed, a patient's feet being anchored to the foot pad while in alying position on the bed;

FIG. 145 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 144, showing the patientflexing her knees to draw her body toward the footboard as part ofphysical therapy, the bed having a pair of grip handles that are grabbedby the patient during the physical therapy if desired;

FIG. 146 is an enlarged perspective view of the footboard of FIGS. 144and 145, the footboard having a graphical display that extends upwardlyfrom a central region of a main body of the footboard, the displayscreen displaying information and messages pertaining to the physicaltherapy;

FIG. 147 is a perspective view of the same bed shown in FIG. 116;

FIG. 148 is a perspective view of a pair of clear, disposable drainagecanisters that are attached to a mattress retention wall of the bed ofFIG. 147 for collection of fluids;

FIG. 149 is an end elevation view of the bed of FIG. 147 showing anupside down U-shaped grab bar coupled to a bracket extending from a baseof the bed and coupled to a chair situated adjacent to the bed;

FIG. 150 is a perspective view of a further patient bed showing adrainage bag holder at the foot end of an upper frame of the bed, thedrainage bag holder having a sensor that detects the presence of adrainage bag on the holder;

FIG. 151 is an exploded perspective view of the drainage bag holder ofFIG. 150 showing the drainage bag holder having a vertically orientedplate, a drainage bag bar that pivotably couples to pivot tabs extendingfrom the plate, and a limit switch that is received in a hole formed inthe plate, the limit switch having a lever that is contacted and movedto a closed position by an arm extending from the drainage bag bar whena drainage bag is attached to the bar;

FIG. 152 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing afootboard of the bed pivoted upwardly in the direction of the arrow intoa position overlying a patient's legs so that the footboard serves as anoverbed table for the bed;

FIG. 153 is a perspective view of a portion of the bed of FIG. 152showing the footboard moved back to its normal position to serve as afootboard;

FIG. 154 is a perspective view of the footboard showing a recess formedin the footboard to help retain items on the footboard when it is beingused as an overbed table;

FIG. 155 is a perspective view showing a caregiver using a control panelthat is included as part of the footboard;

FIG. 156 is a perspective view of a footboard showing a pair of postsextending downwardly from a main body of the footboard, the posts beingpivotably coupled to the main body;

FIG. 157 is a perspective view of the footboard of FIG. 156 attached toa patient bed and pivoted downwardly in the direction of the arrow aboutthe posts to serve as a foot extender for the bed;

FIG. 158 is a perspective view of another patient bed in a chairposition showing a patient's feet resting atop a footboard that isattached to a foot section of the bed in a first orientation having afoot prop bulge in the footboard facing downwardly toward a floor;

FIG. 159 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 158, showing thepatient's feet resting atop the foot prop bulge when the footboard isattached to the foot section of the bed in a second orientation;

FIG. 160 is a side elevation view of a portion of the bed of FIG. 159showing the patient's feet resting atop the foot prop bulge;

FIG. 161 is a perspective view of still another patient bed having asplit foot board situated adjacent a foot end of the bed to serve as afootboard;

FIG. 162 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 161, showing one of thesections of the split footboard being pivoted about a vertical axis, asindicated by the double headed curved arrow, around a corner of a footsection of the bed;

FIG. 163 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 162 showing thefootboard section alongside the foot section of the bed and having agrip handle panel of the footboard section pivoted upwardly to a raisedposition relative to another panel of the footboard;

FIG. 164 is a perspective view of a further patient bed showing the bedhaving a footboard that includes a plurality of segments that aretelescopically coupled together, the footboard being in a raisedposition having the telescopic segments in an expanded configuration;

FIG. 165 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 164, showing thefootboard in a collapsed or lowered position having the telescopicsegments retracted into an uppermost segment;

FIG. 166 is an enlarged perspective view of the footboard of FIG. 164 inthe raised position;

FIG. 167 is an enlarged perspective view of the footboard of FIG. 165 inthe lowered position;

FIG. 168 is a perspective view of yet another patient bed showing afootboard of the bed having a television unit moved upwardly to a raisedposition for viewing by a patient on the bed;

FIG. 169 is an enlarged perspective view of the footboard of FIG. 168with the television unit in the raised position;

FIG. 170 is a perspective view of a part of the bed of FIG. 168 showingthe television unit in a lowered position stored inside the footboard;

FIG. 171 is an exploded view of the footboard of the bed of FIG. 168;

FIG. 172 is a perspective view of a portion of another hospital bedhaving an IV pole that includes a flexible upper segment;

FIG. 173 is a diagrammatic view showing a standard IV pole carrying apiece of equipment that is being damaged due to contact with a headsection of the bed;

FIG. 174 is a diagrammatic view, similar to FIG. 173, showing theflexible segment deflecting in response to the head section of the bedcontacting the piece of equipment carried by the flexible segment of theIV pole;

FIG. 175 is a perspective view of a further patient bed having an IVpole with a contact sensor that provides a signal to a bed controllerindicating that the IV pole is contacting an obstacle so that the bedcontroller can signal actuators of the bed to take corrective action;

FIG. 176 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 175, showing a bedhaving an IV pole without any contact sensor, the IV pole being driveninto a head wall unit due to tilting of an upper frame of the bed;

FIG. 177 is an exploded view of the IV pole of FIG. 175 showing atelescopic pole over a coupling socket and a load cell adjacent to thecoupling socket;

FIG. 178 is an enlarged exploded view of the coupling socket and loadcell of FIG. 177;

FIG. 179 is a table having information pertaining to bed exit andpatient egress alert modes of a patient bed;

FIG. 180 is a perspective view of another patient bed showing the bedhaving the capability to project a lighted image onto a floor adjacentto the bed to indicate to a patient a location of a bed exit zone;

FIG. 181 is a perspective view of a portion of still another patient bedshowing a footboard having an icon that illuminates when a bed exitalarm system is armed, the icon providing an indication to the patientnot to get out of the bed;

FIG. 182 is an end elevation view of another patient bed showing afootboard of the bed having a set of icons that are illuminated green toindicate a satisfactory status of an associated monitored bed featureand that are illuminated a color other than green to indicate anunsatisfactory status of the associated monitored condition, the iconsbeing unlit if the associated feature of the bed is not being monitored;

FIG. 183 is a perspective view of a bed similar to the beds of FIG. 87showing the bed projecting a set of icons onto the floor near a foot endof the bed and projecting a message near a side of the bed, the iconsindicating statuses of monitored features of the bed and the messageadvising the patient to call a nurse if the patient desires to get outof the bed;

FIG. 184 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bedshowing a footboard that includes a built-in foot warmer;

FIG. 185 is a perspective view of a portion of still another patient bedhaving a footboard with a camera unit extending upwardly from a centralregion of a foot board, the camera module has a camera that faces towarda patient on the bed and a GUI, the bed having control circuitry thatcommands the camera to take a picture of the patient at substantiallythe same time as a patient weight reading is taken using a weigh scalesystem of the bed, and the GUI displays the picture that was taken;

FIG. 186 is a perspective view of a further patient bed having an RFIDtag reader that reads RFID tags of equipment placed on the bed so that aweigh scale system can recalculate a tare weight to account for theadded equipment;

FIG. 187 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 186 but showing, in anenlarged window, a mattress control box hanging on a footboard of thebed;

FIG. 188 is a perspective view of an RFID tag having a cover removed toexpose a universal serial bus (USB) connector of the tag;

FIG. 189 is a perspective view of the RFID tag and part of a computershowing the RFID tag coupled to a USB port of the computer to be encodedwith data to be transmitted wirelessly and to be charged;

FIG. 190 is a perspective view of a siderail showing the siderail havinga built in grab handle, a channel to receive a shaped edge of a controlpendant, a recess and coupling bar for a urinal, and a built in linemanager;

FIG. 191 is a rear elevation view of the siderail of FIG. 190;

FIG. 192 is a rear elevation view of the siderail of FIG. 190 and aportion of a mattress;

FIG. 193 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bedshowing a foam mattress having integral foam side bolsters extendingupwardly along opposite sides of the mattress and a white noisegenerator/noise cancellation unit supported by an arm assembly above ahead section of the bed;

FIG. 194 is a perspective view of yet a further patient bed havingsensors on siderails and endboards of the bed to detect cleaning agentsand a lighted sign on a footboard of the bed that displays a message toindicate whether the bed is clean or dirty;

FIG. 195 is a perspective view of another patient bed that includes adisinfectant mister system;

FIG. 196 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the siderails of thebed of FIG. 195 showing a mister spray nozzle through which a mist ofdisinfectant is delivered;

FIG. 197 is an enlarged perspective view, similar to FIG. 196 showingmist being delivered from the nozzle downwardly onto user inputs of thesiderail to disinfect the user inputs;

FIG. 198 is a perspective view of still another patient bed havingdirectional ultraviolet (UV) lights included on siderails and a base ofthe bed for infection control;

FIG. 199 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the siderails of thebed of FIG. 198;

FIG. 200 is an exploded view of a portion of the siderail of FIG. 199showing the siderail having translucent grip portions and a steel framewith UV light emitting diodes (LED's) mounted thereto;

FIG. 201 is a perspective view of a portion of another patient bedshowing the bed having an egress seat that deploys laterally outwardlyfrom an upper frame of the bed;

FIG. 202 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 201, showing a patientsitting on the deployed egress seat;

FIG. 203 is a side elevation view showing the patient sitting on theegress seat and a transport chair being wheeled up to the patient by acaregiver, the transport chair having horizontal arms that slide intochannels situated at the side of the egress seat so that the patient issurrounded by portions of the bed and the chair during egress from thebed to the chair;

FIG. 204 is a perspective view showing the patient sitting on a seat ofthe transport chair;

FIG. 205 is a perspective view showing the horizontal arms of thetransport chair spaced from, and aligned with, the channels of theegress seat;

FIG. 206 is a perspective view of patient room having a 3-dimensional(3D) sensor mounted to a panel of a headwall unit;

FIG. 207 is a perspective view showing a caregiver at a nurse's stationusing a computer to view an image obtained by the 3D sensor;

FIG. 208 is front elevation view of the computer of FIG. 207 showing theinformation displayed on a display screen of the computer prior to aremote weight reading of the patient being taken;

FIG. 209 is a front elevation view of the computer, similar to FIG. 208,showing information displayed on the display screen after the weightreading is taken;

FIG. 210 is a block diagram of the electrical systems of the universalcare cart and bed of FIGS. 103-105; and

FIG. 211 is a block diagram of the electrical system of the bed of FIG.184 which has a heater in the footboard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a patient bed 10 has four siderails including apair of foot rails 12 that each overlaps a respective head rail 14 of apair of head rails 14. As a head section 16 of the bed is raised, eachhead rail 14 pivots about a respective circular hub 18 that does notpivot. Hub 18 includes a patient control panel 20. Each foot rail 12 ismanually movable by a patient from a first position, shown in FIG. 1, toa second position, shown for example in FIG. 4. In the first position,the foot rail 12 blocks the patient from egressing from bed 10 as shownin FIG. 2. When the foot rail 12 is in the second position, the patientis able to egress from the bed as shown in FIG. 4.

While the patient manually moves one of the foot rails 12 between thefirst and second positions, a foot end 22 of the foot rail 12 translatesalong an upper frame 24 of the bed 10 and a head end 26 of the foot rail12 translates along the associated head rail 14. The head rails 14 eachhave a track or groove 28 that receives an antifriction element (notshown), such as a roller or glide pad, that is mounted to a sidewall ofthe foot rail 12 near the head end 26. Another antifriction element (notshown) provides the interface between the foot end 24 of the foot rail12 and the upper frame 24 of bed. In some embodiments, the upper framealso has a track or groove to receive the antifriction element.

The foot rail 12 of FIGS. 1-4 works similar to the manner in which asliding door of a minivan works. Movement of the foot rails 12 of bed 10between the first and second positions is easily accomplished by thepatient. In some embodiments, a post extending from each foot rail 12enters into an interior region of the associated head rail 14 through aslot and attaches to a gas cylinder damper situated in the interiorregion of the head rail 14. The gas cylinder damper holds the foot rail12 in any position between the first and second positions relative tothe head rail 14. When the foot rail 12 is in the second position, asshown in FIG. 4, it overlaps nearly the entirety of the head rail 14when viewed from alongside the bed 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, bed 10 has a caregiver control pod 30 mounted to thefoot rail 12. The pod 30 is a wireless module communicates wirelesslywith bed control circuitry carried by the upper frame of the bed. Thus,there are no electrical wires that need to be routed through the footrails 12 of bed 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, a patient bed 50 has four siderailsincluding a pair of foot rails 52 and a pair of head rails 54. The footrails 52 partially overlap a respective head rail 54 when the foot railsare in an extended position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The foot rails 52substantially overlap the head rails when the foot rails are in aretracted position as shown in FIG. 7. A foot end 56 of each foot railhas a downwardly extending arm 58 that carries an anti-friction element60, such as a roller of glide pad, that is received in a slot 62 formedin a frame member 64 of an upper frame 66 of the bed 50 as shown in FIG.5. A head end 68 of each foot rail 52 includes a slider 70 that couplesto an elongated middle tube 72 of the associated head rail 54. When thefoot rails 52 are in an extended position relative to the associatedhead rail 54, the slider 70 is near a foot end 74 of the associated headrail 54. When the foot rails 52 are moved to the retracted positionsrelative to the associated head rails 54, the slider 72 is near a headend 76 of the respective head rail 54.

In the illustrative example, the foot rails 52 and the head rails 54each having an upper tube 71, a middle tube 72, and a lower tube 73.When a head section 78 of bed 50 is lowered and the upper frame 66 is ina horizontal orientation, each of the tubes 71, 72, 73 of the foot rails52 and head rails 54 are oriented substantially horizontally. End caps79 are provided at the foot end 56 of foot rails 52 and both ends of thehead rails 54. The end caps 79 interconnect the ends or the respectivetubes 71, 72, 73. The slider 70 serves as the end cap at the head ends68 of the foot rails 52. The sliders 70 are configured to accommodatethe pivoting movement of the head rails 54 as the head section 78 israised and lowered. Thus, each slider 70 includes an outer piece fixedto the tubes 71, 72, 73 of the associated foot rail 52 and an innerpiece coupled to the middle tube 72 of the associated head rail 54. Theinner piece of each of the sliders 70 is rotatable relative to the outerpiece and the inner piece of each slider 70 slides along the middle tube72 of the associated head rail 54 as the foot rail 52 is extended andretracted relative to the respective head rail.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a patient bed 80 has a button 82 on a head rail84 that is pressed by a patient to initiate motorized lowering of anassociated foot rail 86. Both head rails 84 of bed 80 have buttons 82even though only one button 80 can be seen in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 shows anenlarged view of one of the buttons 82 and there is an indicia or icon88 on button 82 that depicts the foot rail lowered and a patientswinging one leg out of bed over the lowered foot rail. Thus, a patientin bed 80 is able to lower the foot rails 86 by pressing button 82 on arespective head rail 84. In some embodiments, pressing button 82 alsocauses motorized raising of a head section 90 of bed 80. Head section 90raises while button 82 is pressed and stops raising when button 82 isreleased. Additionally, in some embodiments, pressing button 82 alsocauses thigh and foot sections of bed 80 to flatten if they were raisedto provide a knee break. The thigh and foot sections are unnumbered inFIGS. 8 and 10 but are well-known the art of patient beds. Furtheradditionally, in some embodiments, a signal is sent from bed 80 to anurse call system when either of buttons 82 is pressed in order to alertone or more nurses that the patient is preparing to exit bed 80. In someembodiments, a night light of bed 80 is turned on or is illuminated morebrightly in response to either of buttons 82 being pressed as shown inFIG. 10.

In some embodiments, a caregiver control panel 92 of bed 80 includesuser inputs that caregivers can use to lockout or disable buttons 82from being usable by a patient to lower the foot rails 86 (and todisable the other bed movements and bed signal to a nurse call systemthat occur when button 82 is pressed). Of course, the user inputs alsocan be used to enable the functionality of button 82 after it has beendisabled. If the buttons 82 are disabled and a patient presses either ofbuttons 82, a nurse call signal is sent from the bed to a nurse callsystem so that caregivers are made aware of the patient's desire to exitfrom bed 80 and can go to the patient's room to assist the patient. Itis contemplated by this disclosure that foot rails 86 include normallatch releases for caregivers to manually lower siderails in a mannerwell known in the art. During motorized lowering of the foot rails 86 inresponse to presses of buttons 82, the motor speed is slow such that thelowering of the foot rails 86 by the patient occurs slowly. Duringnormal latch release by a caregiver, the foot rails 86 can be loweredmuch more quickly.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a patient bed 100 has a pair of foot rails 102that each includes a lever 104 that is accessible in a hand hole 106 andthat is used by a patient to release the associated foot rail 102 fortranslational movement along a frame 108 of the bed 100. A grip handle110 over the hand hole 106 has a stepped bottom surface to provide gripareas 112 separated by steps 114. The patient holds onto each respectivegrip area 112 while moving the foot rail 102 in increments toward a headend 116 of the bed 100. After the patient moves one of the foot rails102 from an egress blocking position, as shown in FIG. 11, to anout-of-the-way position, as shown in FIG. 12, the patient is able toegress from bed 100 at its side.

As shown in FIG. 12, the bed frame 108 includes a longitudinallyextending rail 118 that is supported by a pair of laterally extendingtubes 120 at a distance from a longitudinally extending upper framemember 122 of bed 100. A slider 124 is mounted on rail 118 and a pair oflinks 126 interconnects the slider 124 and the associated foot rail 102.When slider 124 is located near a foot end 128 of rail 118, it is lockedin place. When the patient pulls lever 104, slider 124 is unlocked fromthe rail 124 to permit the patient to manually move the associated footrail 102, links 126, and slider 124 as a unit along rail 118 toward thehead end of bed 116. When slider 118 reaches a head end 130 of rail 118,it once again locks in place on rail 118. A second release lever 132 isprovided on each foot rail 102 for use by the patient to unlock slider118 from its locked condition adjacent head end 130 of rail 118 so thatthe foot rail 102, links 126 and slider 124 can be moved back to theiroriginal position blocking patient egress from the bed 100.

Other features of bed 100 include a cup holder 134 that stores flush inone of a pair of head rails 136, as shown in FIG. 11, and a pendulum cupholder 138 that is coupled to the other of the pair of head rails 136,as shown in FIG. 12. The pendulum cup holder pivots relative to the headrail 136 due to the force of gravity in order to maintain a drink cup inan upright position as the head section of bed 100 is raised andlowered. In some embodiments, a night light of bed 100 is turned on ormade to illuminate more brightly in response to lever 104 being actuatedto unlock an associated foot rail 102 for movement toward the head end116 of bed 100. Each foot rail 102 and each head rail 136 includes arelease handle 140 that is used by a caregiver to manually unlock theassociated foot rail 102 or head rail 136 for manual lowering.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a patient bed 142 has four side railsincluding a pair of foot rails 144 and a pair of head rails 146. Eachfoot rail 144 is coupled to a circular hub 148 and is able to bemanually rotated by a patient relative to the hub 148 from a horizontallowered position, shown in FIG. 14, to a vertical raised position topermit patient egress from the bed 142 as shown in FIG. 13. Each headrail 146 is also coupled to a respective hub 148 and is able to rotaterelative to the hub 148 between respective raised and lowered positions.The head rails 146 rotate relative to hub 148 when a head section 150 ofbed 142 is raise and lowered. In the illustrative example, the footrails 144 and the head rails 146 on each side of bed 142 rotate about acommon axis 152 of hub 148. A stop within hub 148 prevents the footrails 144 from rotating below their horizontal lowered positions. Hubs148 are each coupled to one end of an L-shaped arm 154 that has itsother end coupled to a frame member 156 of an upper frame 158 of bed142.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a mattress support deck 160 has left and rightturn assist panels 162, 164 coupled to a head section 166 of the deck160. Panels 162, 164 are each rectangular in the illustrative example.Head section 166 has a pair of rectangular holes 168 formed therein,only one of which can be seen in FIG. 15. The panels 162, 164 arepivotably coupled to end walls 170 that define the head end and footends of each hole 168. The pivotable coupling of the panels 162, 164 towalls 170 is adjacent to the corner regions of holes 168 toward thecentral region of head section 166. A cam 172 is mounted to a shaft 174that extends longitudinally between walls 170 of hole 168. The shaft 174is situated about midway between the corner regions of hole 168 and is aparallel with the long sides of the rectangular hole 168. Cam 172 ismounted on shaft 174 about midway between the end walls 170 of hole 168.Each cam 172 engages a bottom surface of the respective panel 162, 164.

Rotation of each shaft 174 by a respective motor (not shown) in a firstdirection causes the associated cam 172 to wipe against the bottomsurface of the respective panel 162, 164 and lift the panel upwardly asshown in FIG. 15 for panel 162. Rotation of each shaft 174 by therespective motor in a second direction, opposite to the first direction,permits the associated panel 162, 164 to lower back down onto headsection 166. It will be appreciated that shafts 174 are rotated lessthan a full revolution, such as on the order of about 90°, while liftingand lowering panels 162, 164. Movement of panels 162, 164 upwardlyprovides a bed 176 with turn assist functionality as shown in FIG. 16.Thus, a mattress 178 of bed 176 has a portion lifted upwardly by thearticulated left turn assist panel 162 in the illustrative example. Alsoin the illustrative example, mattress 178 is a foam mattress.

Referring now to FIG. 17, a portion 180 of another patient bed has headand foot rails 182, 184 on one side of a mattress 186 remaining inhorizontal alignment even though a head section 188 of a mattress israised. A head rail 182 on an opposite side of the mattress 186 includesa head rail portion 190 that pivots upwardly to provide additionalegress barrier coverage in the region of the raised head section 188 ofmattress 186.

As shown in FIG. 18, the head rails 182 each have a push button 192 neara head end 194 of the head rail 182. Button 192 is pressed to releaseportion 190 for upward manual movement. When button 192 is released,portion 190 is locked in place in its raised position. A patient controlpanel 196 extends laterally from a foot end 198 of the head rail 182 anda set of caregiver controls 197 are provided on an inclined surface 199near the foot end 198 of each head rail 182 as also shown in FIG. 18. Inthe FIG. 19 example, buttons 192 are omitted and the head rail portion190 pivots upwardly automatically in response to the head section 188 ofthe mattress 186 being raised. Accordingly, portion 190 is moved by amotor in the FIG. 19 example.

Referring now to FIG. 20, a patient bed 200 has a siderail,illustratively a foot rail 202, in a lowered position and has anextendable egress handle 204 raised upwardly within an inclined channel206 formed in a foot rail body 208 to provide a grip handle for use by apatient egressing from the bed 200 when the foot rail 202 is in thelowered position. The incline of the channel 206 is such that the egresshandle 204 moves within the channel 206 along a path that is neitherhorizontal nor vertical. Channel 206 terminates at an opening 209located at the top of body 208 and handle 204 moves upwardly out ofopening 209 when being raised to a use position. As shown in FIG. 21,foot rail 202 has a second egress handle 210 that is extendablehorizontally from a head end 212 of the foot rail body 208 to provide agrip handle for use by a patient egressing from the bed when the footrail 202 is in a raised position. FIG. 22 shows that the extendableegress handle 204 has a recess 214 that facilitates the patient grippingthe upper end region of handle 204.

A lock 203 is provided in handle 204 to lock handle 204 in the raisedposition relative to body 208 of siderail as shown in FIG. 21. Lock 203includes a linkage 205 and a pair of pins 207 that extend outwardly fromsides of handle 204 and that are received in apertures (not shown), suchholes or pockets, formed in walls of body 208 that define the sides ofchannel 206. A paddle 215 in recess 214 is moved by the patient toactuate linkage 205 thereby to retract pins 207 from the apertures topermit handle 202 to be moved from the raised, use position back to alowered, storage position. A similar type of lock is provided in handle210 in some embodiments. Other suitable locks that may be used in lieuof illustrative lock 203 include a wrap spring clutch mechanism (e.g., aMECHLOK® device available from Porter Systems, Inc. of Novi, Mich.)having one end attached to handle 204 and the other attached to body 208of siderail 202, a locking gas spring having one end attached to handle204 and the other end attached to body 208 of siderail, a ratchet typemechanism, and a jack screw device, just to name a few.

Referring now to FIGS. 23-26, a patient bed 220 has head and foot rails222, 224 that each comprises a curved flexible panel 226. A pair ofcurved guide posts 228 is each located between respective head and footrails 222, 224 to provide guide channels for a head end of therespective foot rail 224 and a foot end of the respective head rail 222.A control pendant 230 is extendable out of a channel 232 formed in eachpost 228. Pendant 230 has patient controls on one side and caregivercontrols on the other side. A head board 234 of bed 220 has guidechannels for head ends of the head rails 222 and a foot board 236 hasguide channels for foot ends of the foot rails 224.

The movement of head rails 222 between raised and lowered positions isguided by the guide channels of the head board 234 and guide posts 228.In a similar fashion, the movement of foot rails 224 between raised andlowered positions is guided by the guide channels of the foot board 236and guide posts 228. As shown in FIG. 24, after the head and foot railsare moved to respective lowered positions, the guide posts are able tobe folded downwardly to a storage position.

Referring now to FIG. 27, a patient bed 240 has a head rail 242 with afoot end portion 244 pivoted to a head end portion 246 for movementabout a generally vertical pivot axis 248. The foot end portion 244 ofthe head rail 242 pivots by about 90° relative to the head end portion246 so that the foot rail portion 244 extends away from an associatedmattress 250 to provide a grip handle for patient egress as shown inFIG. 28.

Referring now to FIG. 29, a patient bed 260 has four siderails 262 thateach include an upper section 264 that moves relative to a lower section266 from a raised position to a lowered position such that when theupper section 264 is in the lowered position, the siderail is compactand can be rotated outwardly away from a mattress 268 of bed 260 andthen slid underneath the mattress 268 for storage in an orientationsubstantially parallel with the mattress 268. FIG. 30 shows one of thefoot rails of the siderails 262 in the storage position. FIG. 31 showsthe foot rail 262 pulled out from under the mattress and rotatedslightly upwardly. FIG. 32 shows the foot rail 262 oriented verticallywith the upper section 264 raised relative to the lowered section 266.

Referring now to FIGS. 33-38, a patient bed 270 has expandable widthsiderails 272 and a repositionable caregiver graphical user interface(GUI) 274. GUI 274 is shown at a foot end 276 of the bed adjacent acentral region of a footboard 278 in FIGS. 33 and 34. The GUI 274 ismoved to a corner region of an upper frame 280 of the bed 270 in FIG.35. A fold out shelf or overbed table 282 in a use position relative toone of the siderails 272 is also shown in FIG. 35. Shelf 282 extendsfrom the siderail in a cantilevered manner when in the use position.Shelf 282 is movable relative to the siderail from the use position to astorage position folded against the siderail 272. A patient's feet arelocated against footboard 278 and, according to this disclosure, thefootboard 278 includes a foot massager (not shown).

According to this disclosure, an inductive charger is carried by shelf282. For example, in some embodiments, the inductive charger is situatedbeneath the upper surface of shelf 282, such as being situated in aninterior region of shelf 282. In some embodiments, the inductive chargeris supported by the upper surface of shelf 282. It is also contemplatedthat, in some embodiments, an inductive charger is embedded in a recessin the upper surface of shelf 282 such that an upper surface of theinductive charger and an upper surface of the remainder of shelf 282 aresubstantially coplanar. The inductive charger is a Near Field 3inductive charger in some embodiments. The inductive charger is operableto inductively recharge electrical devices placed upon the shelf. Theelectrical devices include, for example, a patient's smart phone, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, and the like.

In FIG. 36, one of the foot rails 272 is lowered for patient egress. Thelowered foot rail 272 has a first portion 284 separated from andsituated below a second portion 286 of the foot rail 272. As also shownin FIG. 36, a grip bar 288 is connected to a chair 290 and to a baseframe 292 of the bed 270. As shown in FIG. 37, the patient grips ahandle of the second portion 286 of the foot rail 272 and grips a handleof the head rail 272 in preparation for standing up from the bed 270.After the patient stands up, the patient uses the grip bar 288 thatinterconnects the base frame 292 of the bed and the chair 290. Bygripping the grip bar 288, the patient is able to move from the bed 270to the chair 290 and minimize the chance of falling.

Referring now FIG. 39, a mattress support deck 300 supports a mattress302 and a pair of siderails 304. In FIG. 39, one of the siderails 304 isshown (in phantom) pivoting toward a position parallel with an uppersurface 306 of the mattress for eventual storage under the mattresssupport deck 300. FIG. 40 shows a model constructed in accordance withFIG. 39. The siderail 304 in FIG. 40 is in a storage position beneath asection of the mattress support deck 300. In FIG. 41, the siderail 304is pulled out from under the mattress support deck 300 and is beingpivoted partially toward a raised position. A pair of arms 308 guidesthe movement of siderail 304 as it raises and lowers relative to deck300. In FIG. 42, the siderail 304 is in the raised position.

Referring now to FIG. 43A, a siderail assembly has upper and lowersiderail body sections and a pair of linkage arms extending from abottom of the lower siderail body section. Each of the linkage arms hasX, Y and Z segments as shown in FIG. 43B. The Z segment is thevertically oriented segment, the Y segment is the long horizontallyoriented segment, and the X segment is the short horizontally orientedsegment. The black background of FIGS. 43A and 43B prevents the use ofreference numbers in these figures.

FIG. 44 shows a model constructed in accordance with FIGS. 43A and 43B.In FIG. 44, a siderail 310 is in a lowered position. The siderail 310has first and second sections 312, 314 with the first section 312 beingtucked behind the second section 314 in FIG. 44. In FIG. 45, a user isgrabbing part of the upper siderail body section 312 in preparation forraising the siderail 310. In FIG. 46, the user continues to raise thesiderail 310 which is shown in an intermediate position. In FIG. 47, thesiderail 310 is in the raised position having the first section 312situated above the second section 314.

Referring now to FIG. 48, a patient bed 320 has a patient helper 322that is repositionable along a first laterally extending rail 324adjacent a head end 326 of the bed 320. Bed 320 also has a GUI 328 thatis repositionable along a second laterally extending rail 330 adjacent afoot end 332 of the bed 320. Bed 320 further has four siderails 334 thatprovide barriers along left and right sides of a mattress 336 of the bed320 to prevent a patient from falling out of the bed. A GUI 338 issuspended from an end of the patient helper 322 and a grip handle 340 isbuilt around the GUI 338. As shown in FIG. 49, first portions 342 ofeach siderail 334 adjacent central regions along the left side of thebed are pivoted by about 90° relative to second portions 344 of thesiderails to provide an opening between the siderails 334 through whichthe patient is able to egress from the bed 320.

Referring now to FIG. 50, a patient bed 350 has a bed frame 352 thatlacks traditional siderails, but instead has a pair of grab bars 354 oneach side of bed frame 352. In FIGS. 50-52, the grab bars 354 that canbe seen on one side of the bed 350 are in storage positions below amattress 356 of the bed 350. Mattress 356 has barrier air bladders 358,shown for example in FIG. 54, that are situated along the sides of themattress 356 and that are inflated to provide barriers 360 to inhibitthe patient from falling out of the bed as shown, for example, in FIG.51. In FIG. 52, the barrier air bladders 358 at the sides of a footsection 362 of the mattress 356 are in a deflated state while the otherbarrier air bladders 358 remain inflated to provide respective barriers360 in the hip and torso region of the patient. In FIG. 53, the barrierair bladders 358 along one of the sides of the mattress 356 are deflatedto permit patient egress from the bed 350. Also in FIG. 53, the grabbars 354 are pivoted upwardly to use positions to be gripped by apatient situated between the grab bars 354. FIG. 54 shows how thebladders 358, in an inflated state, create a barrier 360 of about 6.5inches high with respect to an upper surface 364 of the central regionof the mattress. In FIG. 55, the bladders 358 are in a deflated state;

Referring now to FIG. 56, a patient bed 370 is configured so that one ofthe siderails, in particular foot rail 372, is used as part of a patientlift system 374 when moved to a raised position over a central region ofa mattress 376 of the bed 370. In FIG. 57, the lift system siderail 372is moved to a position alongside the mattress 376 to serve as atraditional siderail for bed 370.

FIG. 58 shows an exploded view of the lift system 374 of the bed 370.The lift system 374 includes a winch lift housing 378 that contains awinch motor (not shown), a bent steel tube fame 380 with casters 382, ahub 384, a clevis or pivot housing 386, a cast aluminum pivot arm 388with an adjustment slot 390, an L-shaped aluminum extruded lift arm 392,a sling 394, a sling arm 396 with hooks 398, and a tether 400 having oneend coupled to sling arm 396 and the other end coupled to the motor inwinch lift housing 378. Thus, tether 400 routes through the variouscomponents of lift system 374 between sling arm 396 and winch lifthousing 378. The lower end of arm 388 is pivotably coupled to clevis 386and the upper end of arm 388 is received inside the short segment ofL-shaped arm 392. A threaded portion of T-handle 402 threads through anopening 404 of arm 392 and extends through slot 390 to engage theopposite wall of arm 388. Thus, the height of arm 392 and foot rail 372above mattress 376 is adjustable by loosening T-handle 402, sliding arm293 upwardly or downwardly on arm 388 to a desired height, and thentightening T-handle 402.

It will be appreciated that arm 388 is coupled to clevis 386 forpivoting movement about a substantially horizontal axis to permit thefoot rail 372, arm 392, and arm 388 to pivot as a unit between thelowered position, shown in FIG. 57, and the raised position, shown inFIG. 56. Furthermore, clevis 386 is coupled to hub 384 for pivotingmovement about a substantially vertical axis. As shown in FIG. 60, hub384 includes first and second hub pieces 384 a, 384 b and clevis 386includes first and second clevis pieces 386 a, 386 b. A bushing 406provides the pivot joint between clevis 386 and hub 384. Arm 388 ismounted to clevis 386 between clevis pieces 386 a, 386 b by a main pivotpin 408. A T-handle 410 threads through an opening 412 in clevis piece386 b and is used to tighten against the lower end of arm 388 to retainarm 388 in its raised or lowered position. A T-handle 414 threadsthrough another opening 416 in clevis piece 386 b and is used to tightenagainst an upper surface of hub 384 to retain clevis 386 and thecomponents of lift system 374 supported thereby in place relative to hub384. Thus, when T-handle 414 is loosened, the patient supported by sling394 beneath foot rail 372 can be swung out from bed 370 to a positionabove another piece of patent support equipment such as a stretcher orwheelchair.

Referring now to FIG. 61, a patient bed 420 has collapsible siderails422 with a vertically oriented center post 424 serving as a siderailsupport in a central region of an upper frame 426 of the bed 420. Bed420 further includes lift legs 428 at the corners of upper frame 426 ofbed 420 that extend through respective apertures 430 formed in castershrouds 432. Legs 428 extend and retract such that shrouds 432 and upperframe 426 move upwardly and downwardly relative to legs 428. In theillustrative embodiment, caster shrouds 432 are coupled to the upperframe 426 to move upwardly and downwardly therewith. When legs 428 arefully retracted, the upper frame is in a lowered position having casters434 engaging a floor beneath the caster shrouds 432 as shown in FIG. 62.When legs 428 are extended from the fully retracted positions, casters434 are moved upwardly out of contact with the floor. To facilitatepatient egress from a mattress 436 of the bed 420 when upper frame 426is in the lowered position, the siderails 422 are moved to collapsedpositions and the center posts 424 are pivoted to a horizontallyoriented storage position alongside the upper frame 426 as also shown inFIG. 62.

Referring now to FIG. 63, a patient bed 440 has four siderails 442 eachpivoted by a respective multi-axis joint 444 to an upper region of arespective lift post 446 at the corners of the bed 440. Multi-axisjoints 444 permit movement of each siderail 442 from a use positionextending generally horizontally alongside a mattress 448 of the bed 440and an out-of-the-way position extending generally vertically upwardlyfrom the upper region of a respective lift post 446 with a siderail body450 oriented generally parallel with an endboard 452 of the bed as shownin FIG. 63 with regard to one of the siderails 442 at the left side ofthe figure.

As shown in FIG. 64, bed 440 is configured so that an upper frame 454 ofthe bed can be lowered with respect to the lift legs 446 so that casters456 beneath caster shrouds 458 engage the floor. As shown in FIG. 65,each of the caster shrouds 458 substantially cover from view arespective caster 456 that is braked when the caster shroud 458 islowered and that is unbraked when the caster shroud 458 is raised.

Referring now to FIG. 66, a mattress 460 has integrated siderail pads462. In the illustrative example, pads 462 are included as part of ahead section 464 of mattress 460. As shown in FIG. 67, a bottom surface466 of the mattress 460 has a pad storage recess 468 formed therein. Inthe illustrative example, pad 462 and recess 468 are rectangular inshape and are similarly sized so that pad 462 fills the entirety ofrecess 468 when in a storage positions. A strip 470 of material tetherspad 462 to the remainder of mattress 460.

Referring now to FIG. 68, a patient bed 480 includes a repositionableGUI 482 which, in FIG. 68, happens to be located at a foot end cornerregion of the bed 480. GUI 482 includes a touchscreen display 484 in ahousing 486 that is mounted atop an arm 488. A lower end of arm 488includes a movable mount 490 that slidably couples to an upper frame 492of bed 480. In FIG. 69, the GUI 482 is located at the foot end of thebed 480 near a central region of a footboard 494 of the bed 480. Theelectronics of GUI 482 communicate wirelessly with other bed electronicsof bed 480 in some embodiments. In such embodiments, there are no wiresthat route from the GUI to other portions of bed 480. In alternativeembodiments, the electronics of GUI communicate via a wired connectionwith other bed electronics.

As shown in FIG. 70, touch screen display 484 has a set of controls 496including inputs to raise, lower, extend and retract a foot section ofbed 480, inputs to articulate head, thigh and foot sections of amattress support deck of bed 480, inputs to raise and lower an upperframe and mattress of bed 480, and a nurse call input. In FIG. 70, ahand avatar 498 appears on the display 484. As shown in FIG. 71, apatient is able to select controls on the GUI display 484 withouttouching the GUI 482 due to hand motions being detected within a sensorfield 500, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 72, of the GUI 482. A sensorthat defines field 500 is situated within an aperture 502 provided inhousing 486 above display 484. The avatar 498 is shown on display 484based on the position of the patient's hand within field 500. After thepatient moves the avatar 498 to a desired position having a fingerhovering over the particular user input 496 of interest, the patientmoves his or her hand or finger in the direction of display 484 to mimica button press. This movement is detected in sensor field 500 and bed480 responds by activating the feature or function chosen by thepatient.

Referring now to FIGS. 73 and 74, bed 480 further includes a wirelesspatient remote control pendant 504 coupled to an upper rail 506 of asiderail 508 of the bed 480. As also shown in FIG. 73, the footboard 494of the bed 480 has an integrated sequential compression system thatcommunicates pressurized air via tubing to compression sleeves 510 thatare attached to legs of the patient. As shown in FIG. 74, pendant 504includes a box-shaped main housing 512 with user inputs 514 on a frontof the housing 512 and a C-shaped clip 516 extending from an archedtrack 518 that extends from a back of the housing 512. Clip 516 is sizedand shaped to snap onto and off of rail 506. When clipped to rail 506,housing 512 can be moved to desired position with track 518 slidingthrough clip 516 as the housing 512 is moved. Pendant 504 haselectronics that communicate wirelessly with electronics elsewhere onbed 480. The wireless communication occurs in response to the patientpressing or otherwise selecting one of the user inputs 516 which in theillustrative example are membrane switches or buttons.

Referring now to FIG. 75, a patient control module 620 has a C-shapedclamp 622 that is sized and configured to snap onto an upper rail 624 ofa siderail 626. The patient control module 620 has a main body 628 withuser input buttons 630, a nurse call pendant 632 that is detachable fromthe main body 628, and a spring loaded clamp 634 that retains the nursecall pendant 632 in place relative to the main body 628. In someembodiments, the manufacturer of the nurse call pendant 632 is differentthan the manufacturer of main body 628 and clamp 634.

As shown in FIGS. 76 and 77, an arm 636 extends from clamp 634 andenters into an interior region of main body 628. One or more springs(not shown) in the interior region of the main body 628 act upon arm 636to bias clamp 634 toward main body 628. Thus, when pendant 632 is placedin the space between clamp 634 and main body 628, the clamp 634 isbiased against one of the sidewalls of the pendant 632 and the other ofthe sidewalls of pendant 632 is urged against a sidewall of the mainbody 628. Also, a bottom surface of pendant 632 rests atop an uppersurface of arm 636 when pendant 632 is placed in the space between clamp634 and main body 628.

Referring now to FIG. 78, a first pendant 640 includes a spring loadedretainer 642 that holds a second pendant 644 in position relative to thefirst pendant 640. In the illustrative example, the first pendant 640has bed control inputs 646 and the second pendant 644 having a nursecall button 648. Pendants 640, 644 may be made by differentmanufacturers. Retainer 642 includes a clamp arm 650 that is generallyparallel with a sidewall of pendant 640. Retainer also has a pair ofsupport arms 652 that each enter into an interior region of pendant 640.One or more springs (not shown) in the interior region of the pendant640 act upon arms 652 to bias clamp arm 650 toward pendant 640. Thus,when pendant 644 is placed in the space between clamp arm 650 andpendant 640, the clamp arm 650 is biased against one of the sidewalls ofthe pendant 644 and the other of the sidewalls of pendant 644 is urgedagainst a sidewall of pendant 640. Also, a bottom surface of pendant 644rests atop upper surfaces of arms 652 when pendant 644 is placed in thespace between clamp arm 650 and pendant 640.

Referring now to FIG. 79, a patient bed 660 has a shelf 662 pivoted to ause position relative to a barrier, such as illustrative foot rail 664of the bed 660, and has a port 666 on another barrier, such as a headrail 668 of the bed 660, that is used to charge wireless devices such asphones, tablet computers, and the like when the barriers are in raisedpositions extending upwardly with respect to a patient support surface(e.g., mattress) so that the port is accessible to a patient supportedon the patient support surface. In the illustrative example, a phone 670is resting on shelf 662 and is being charged via port 666.

As shown in FIG. 80, shelf 662 is pivotable relative to the foot rail664 between a first position (in phantom) overlying a mattress 672 ofthe bed 660 and a second position (in solid) extending in an oppositedirection away from the mattress 672. As also shown in FIG. 80, acontrol panel housing 674 is pivoted upwardly out of a recess 676 in thehead rail 668 to a raised position. The control panel housing 674carries caregiver controls 678 that face away from the mattress 672 whenthe control panel housing 674 is in the raised position. In someembodiments, patient controls (not shown) on an edge of the controlpanel housing 674 are accessible to a patient on mattress 672 whenhousing 674 is in the raised position. Optionally, rail 668 hascaregiver controls and/or patient controls at locations spaced fromhousing 674 in some embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 81, the shelf 662 is movable to an intermediateposition inclined upwardly from the foot rail 664. As shown in FIG. 82,a display screen 671 of the phone 670 includes text indicating that bedcontrol software to control features and functions of bed 660 can bedownloaded to the phone 670 and indicating that the phone is charging.

Referring now to FIG. 83, a patient bed 680 includes a wireless pendant682 that is used by a patient to control bed functions and a television684 in the room. The bed 680 has an IR receiver 686 in a foot board 688to receive signals from the wireless pendant 682 for control of the bedfunctions and features. The bed 680 further includes a flip over controlpanel housing 690 that is coupled to each head rail 692 and that haspatient controls 694 located on a side of the control panel housing 690as shown in FIGS. 83 and 84. The control panel housings 690 also eachinclude caregiver controls 696 that face away from the associated headrail 692 when the respective housing 690 is moved to a storage positionwithin a recess of the respective head rail 692. Thus, when housing 690is in the recess, the caregiver controls 696 are accessible to acaregiver alongside bed 680 and the patient controls 694 are blockedfrom access by the head rail 692. When the control panel housing 690 isflipped over out of the recess, the patient controls 694 are exposed foruse by a patient.

Referring now to FIG. 85, a patient bed 700 has a control unit 702mounted to an end of an arm 704 that extends from a top of a foot board706 toward a patient. The control unit 702 has a graphical displayscreen or GUI 708 and a motion detector or sensor (similar to thatdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 70-72) to detect movement of apatient's hand at a distance from the screen 708. A hand avatar is shownon GUI 708 when the sensor senses the patient's hand. In theillustrative example, caregiver controls 710 are located on a side ofthe control unit 702 as shown in FIG. 85. The control unit 702 has griphandles 712 located below the graphical display screen 708. In FIG. 86,a patient is grabbing one of the grip handles 712 to assist with egressfrom the bed.

Referring now to FIG. 87, a pair of patient beds 720 each have acaregiver GUI 722 located at an upper end of an arm 724 that couples, atits lower end, to a base 726 of the bed for sliding movement along alongitudinal dimension of the bed 720. Foot pedals 728 for bed controlextend from the lower end of the arm 724. Each bed 720 also has apatient grip handle 730 extending from a hub 732 to which a head rail734 of the bed 720 couples. As shown in FIG. 88, a GUI housing 736 ofGUI 722 has patient controls 738 on a back wall of the housing 736 thatface toward a patient. As shown in FIG. 89, one of the siderails 734 ofthe bed 720 includes an integrated urinal 739.

Referring now to FIG. 90, a siderail 740 has an upper surface 742 formedwith a trough 744 through which patient care lines 746 are routed fromone end of the siderail 740 to the other end. The patient care lines 746enter one end of the trough 744 through a notch 748 or an end opening750 and exit the other end of the trough 744 through an end opening 752.In the illustrative embodiment, a caregiver control panel 754 is flippedupwardly out of a recess 756 to a raised position.

Referring now to FIG. 91, a patient bed 760 includes a U-shaped grab bar762 arching between mounts 764 that are situated adjacent head endcorner regions of a mattress 766. A control unit 768 extends over apatient from a central region of the U-shaped grab bar 762. The controlunit 768 has caregiver controls 770 on a sidewall 772 thereof. The grabbar 762 includes hand grip areas 774 with bumps 776 adjacent each sideof the control unit 768.

As shown in FIG. 92, an undersurface 778 of the control unit 768includes a patient control panel 780, an air flow fan 782 on each sideof the patient control panel 780, a nurse call button 784 above thepatient control panel 780, and a light 786 with adjacent on/off switch788 above the nurse call button 784. In FIG. 93, a patient is shownreaching upwardly to engage the patient control panel 780. An arrow 789in FIG. 93 indicates that the U-shaped grab bar 762 can be moved in thatdirection relative to the pivot mounts 764 so as not to obstruct patientegress.

Referring now FIG. 94, a patient bed 790 has a patient helper 792 havinga first arm portion 794 extending upwardly from a mount collar 796 thatattaches to a horizontally oriented arched rail 798 located at a headend 800 of the bed 790, a second arm portion 802 extending in agenerally horizontal cantilevered manner from an upper end of the firstarm portion 794 over a head section 804 of a mattress 806 and mattresssupport deck 808 of the bed 790, a third arm portion 810 thattelescopically extends and retracts relative to the second arm portion802 (as indicated by the double headed arrow 812). Rail 798 is generallytriangular in cross section and collar 796 is shaped complementary tothe rail 798.

Patient helper 792 includes a trapeze grab bar 814 hanging at a lowerend of a tether 816 that extends downwardly from an end of the third armportion 810. Patient helper 792 further includes an oxygen tank holder818 defined by a cylindrical wall situated at an end of an arm 820 thatextends from a bottom end of the first arm portion 794 of the patienthelper 792. A bottom wall or cross member or other suitable stop (notshown) is provided at the bottom of tank holder 818 to prevent an oxygentank from slipping out of the bottom of holder 818. The entire patienthelper 792 is repositionable along the arched rail 798.

As shown in FIG. 95, the trapeze grab bar 814 is generally triangular inshape with tubular portions 814 a, 814 b, 814 c. Tubular portion 814 bhas a pair of hand grip areas 822. The trapeze grab bar 814 alsoincludes a triangular patient control housing 824 with patient controls826. In FIG. 96, it can be seen that the arched rail 798 is generallytriangular in cross section and the collar 796 is shaped complementaryto the rail 798. A double headed arrow 828 in FIG. 96 indicates theability to reposition the patient helper 792 along the arched rail 798.

Referring now to FIG. 97, a patient bed 900 has a transparent patientcontrol panel 902 mounted to an end of an articulated arm assembly 904that has a first arm 906 extending upwardly from a head deck section 908and a second arm 910 extending from an upper end of the first arm 906over the head deck section 908. Patient control panel 902 and armassembly 904 are repositionable as a unit along the frame, particularlyhead deck section 908, of bed 900. In FIG. 97, control panel 902 hasgraphical user inputs displayed in a first format for day time use. InFIG. 98, the transparent patient control panel 902 is in a night modehaving the user inputs displayed in a second format. In the illustrativeembodiment, the images on the transparent patient control panel 92 arecontrolled via organic light-emitting diode/heads up display (OLED/HUD)technology. The day mode and night mode of control panel 902 helps thepatient to properly maintain their biological clock because of thevisual feedback provided to the patient as to the time of day (e.g., daytime or night time).

Referring now to FIG. 99, a patient bed 920 has a caregiver control unit922 having a housing 924 that serves as a central region of a footboard926. A pair of arms 928 supports the footboard 926 relative to a footdeck section 930 of bed 920. Arms 928 are manually extendable andretractable relative to foot deck section 930. When extended, acaregiver inserts pillows into the gap created between the footboard 926and a mattress (not shown but similar to those disclosed herein)supported on bed 920. Thus, the pillows increase the length of thepatient support area on bed 920. As shown in FIG. 100, a footboard panelor wing set 932 snaps onto the housing 924 of the caregiver control unit922. The footboard panel 932 has a central recess 934 that receives aportion of the housing 924 and wings 936 on opposite sides of the recess934. A back wall 938 of footboard panel 932 interconnects the wings 936.

Referring now to FIG. 101, a patient bed 940 has a caregiver GUI 942that is automatically pivoted in the direction of arrow 943 out of arecess 944 in a siderail 946 to an ergonomic use position in response toa caster brake pedal 948 being moved to a brake position to brakecasters 949 of the bed 940. In FIG. 102, the caregiver GUI 942 isautomatically pivoted in the direction of arrow 945 back into the recess944 in the siderail 946 to a storage position in response to the casterbrake pedal 948 being moved to a neutral or steer position. A controller(not shown) of bed 940 receives signals from one or more sensors (notshown), such as limit switches, to indicate the position of pedal 948and then the controller signals a motor (not shown) to pivot GUI 942 indirection 943 or direction 945 as the case may be.

Referring now to FIGS. 103-105, a caregiver universal remote cart 950 isused to control a patient bed 951 and other patient care equipment in apatient room. As shown in FIG. 104, the caregiver universal remote cart950 has a GUI 952 mounted to a top of a pole 954, a tray 956 mounted tothe pole 954 beneath the GUI 952, a base 958 with casters 960 coupled toa lower end of the pole 954. The base 958 having foot operated controls962 or foot inputs to control features of the patient bed. In theillustrative example, the foot operated controls control used to raiseand lower an upper frame of bed 951 relative to a base and to controltilting of the upper frame between Trendelenburg and reverseTrendelenburg positions. As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 105, wirelesssignals 964 are transmitted between the caregiver universal remote cart950 and some of the other equipment in the hospital room.

Thus, bed control cart 950 is used for controlling features of patientbed 951 and includes wheeled base 958 with foot inputs 962, support 954extending upwardly from wheeled base 958, and GUI 952 supported bysupport 954. In some embodiments, GUI 952 is a touchscreen display thatdisplays hand inputs such as icons and buttons that are selected by acaregiver to control features of bed 961 and to control features ofother equipment in the patient room. While the present disclosure isintended to cover any and all graphical depictions on GUI 952 forproviding hand inputs for controlling bed 951 and other medicalequipment, some representative examples of suitable bed control screenshots providing hand inputs can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,572,778 andin U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0089419, each of whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein to the extent notinconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as to anyinconsistencies. Additionally, GUI 952 displays data of an informationalnature (e.g., bed data, head of bed angle, patient weight) on variousscreens in some embodiments. Exemplary details of the use of a GUI tocontrol patient bed and devices other than patient beds can be found inU.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0297327 which is herebyincorporated by reference herein to the extent not inconsistent with thepresent disclosure which shall control as to any inconsistencies.

As shown in FIG. 210, cart 950 includes circuitry 966 configured to sendwireless signals, such as via transmitter 967, to control the featuresof bed 951 in response to use of each of the foot inputs or controls 962and hand inputs from GUI 958 of bed control cart 950. In someembodiments, some or all of circuitry 966 is housed in base 958 of cart958. Alternatively or additionally, some or all of circuitry 966 ishoused in the structure that carries GUI 958 at the upper region ofsupport 954. Further alternatively or additionally, some or all ofcircuitry 966 is housed in an interior region of tray 956 and/or support954. Cart 950 also includes a battery 968 to provide power to circuitry966 and to GUI 958 and foot controls 962.

Still referring to FIG. 210, bed 951 includes circuitry 2102 thatreceives wireless signals from cart 950 such as via receiver 2104. Insome embodiments, circuitry 966 of cart 950 and circuitry 2102 of bed951 is configured for bidirectional wireless communication with eachother. In such embodiments, transceivers 967, 2104 are provided,respectively. However, it is within the scope of this disclosure forcart 950 and bed 951 to each have separate receivers and transmittersrather than transceivers 967, 2104. Circuitry 2102 of bed 951 is alsocoupled to user inputs 2106, motors 2108, a scale system 2110, apneumatic system 2112, alarms 2114, an AC power plug 2116 and aninput/output (I/O) port or module 2118. Port 2118 coupled either via awired connection or a wireless connection to a network 2120 of ahealthcare facility so that data from bed 951 can be communicated tocomputer devices (e.g., nurse call computers, EMR computers, ADTcomputers, locating and tracking computers, etc.) of network 2120. Insome embodiments, data from cart 950 is communicated to network 2120 viacircuitry 2102 of bed 951. Alternatively or additionally, data iscommunicated to network 2120 from cart 950 without involving bed 951 inthe communication path, such as by transmissions from transmitter 967 toa wireless access point of network 2120, for example. In someembodiments, transmissions are sent from devices of network 2120 to cart950 and/or bed 951.

It should be appreciated that the block diagrams of FIG. 210 for cart950 and bed 951 are rudimentary in nature but, nonetheless, areillustrative of the relevant aspects disclosed herein. Examples of thecircuitry and related components of some suitable hospital beds 950 canbe found in “Service Manual, Progressa™ Bed From Hill-Rom,” © 2013,Hill-Rom Services, Inc.; “Service Manual, TotalCare® Bed System FromHill-Rom,” © 2008, Hill-Rom Services, Inc.; and “Service Manual,VersaCare® Bed From Hill-Rom,” © 2008, Hill-Rom Services, Inc.; each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein to the extent notinconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as to anyinconsistencies.

In some embodiments, foot inputs 962 control raising and lowering of anupper frame of the patient bed 951 relative to a base of patient bed951. Alternatively or additionally, the foot inputs control tilting ofthe upper frame of the patient bed 951 between Trendelenburg and reverseTrendelenburg positions. Further alternatively of additionally, footinputs 962 control movements of mattress support sections (sometimesreferred to as “deck sections”) such as head, thigh and foot sections,relative to the upper frame.

In some embodiments, the hand inputs of GUI 958 control motors 2108 thatmay move mattress support deck sections of the patient bed 951.Alternatively or additionally, the hand inputs of GUI 958 controlpneumatic system 2112 that operates to inflate and deflate portions of amattress of the patient bed 951. For example, the hand inputs control amattress therapy function of a mattress of the patient bed 951. Themattress therapy functions include one or more of the following: arotation therapy, an alternating pressure therapy, a percussion therapy,a vibration therapy, and a low airloss therapy. Further alternatively oradditionally, the hand inputs control a turn assist function of thepatient bed 951.

In some embodiments, the hand inputs of GUI 958 control scale system2110 of bed 951. As mentioned above, circuitry 966 is configured toreceive wireless communications from the patient bed 951. The wirelesscommunications from patient bed 951 include information relating to oneor more alarms 2114 occurring on patient bed 951 in some instances. GUI958, in turn, displays information pertaining to the one or more alarms2114. Alternatively or additionally, the wireless communications frompatient bed 951 include information relating to a patient weight asmeasured by scale system 2110 of patient bed 951.

In some embodiments, the wireless communications from patient bed 951include information received by patient bed 951 from network 2120. Thehand inputs are usable to lockout functions of patient bed 951 frombeing controlled by user inputs 2106 on patient bed 951. Optionally,each of the hand controls of GUI 958 and foot controls 962 are able tobe locked out from use by user inputs 2106 on the patient bed 951. Asmentioned above, in some embodiments, circuitry 966 is configured tosend wireless signals to control features of at least one other piece ofhealthcare equipment in response to use of any one or more of the footinputs 962 and the hand inputs of cart 950.

In some embodiments, circuitry 966 of the bed control cart 950communicatively pairs with bed circuitry 2102 of bed 951 after the bedcontrol cart 950 is brought into a patient room in which the patient bed951 is located. Furthermore, circuitry 966 communicatively pairs withbed circuitry 2102 of other patient beds 951 in other patient roomsafter the bed control cart 950 is brought into respective rooms of theother patient beds 951. At least one user input selection on the handcontrols of the GUI 958 is a prerequisite to the communicative pairingbetween circuitry 966 and bed circuitry 2102 in some embodiments.Alternatively or additionally, at least one user input selection on thefoot controls 962 is a prerequisite to the communicative pairing betweencircuitry 966 and bed circuitry 2102. Further alternatively oradditionally, at least one user input selection on at least one userinput 2106 of patient bed 951 is a prerequisite to the communicativepairing between circuitry 966 and bed circuitry 2102. Optionally, acaregiver PIN is required to be entered on GUI 950 to accomplish thepairing of circuitry 966 with circuitry 2102. It should be appreciatedthat, in some embodiments, until a successful pairing between cart 950and bed 951 occurs, cart 950 cannot be used to control features of bed951.

Referring now to FIG. 106, a patient bed 970 has a control panel 972that a caregiver uses to select a bed feature that the caregiver intendsto operate hands free at a later time in the not too distant future. Inthe illustrative example, control panel 972 is coupled to an upper frame974 of bed 970. In FIG. 107, the caregiver is shown repositioning apatient on a mattress 976 of the patient bed in preparation for a turnassist function of bed 970 that the caregiver has selected on controlpanel 972. In FIG. 108, the caregiver is shown moving his foot tointerrupt a light curtain 978 that results in operation of the bedfeature (turn assist in the illustrative example) that the caregiverpreviously selected using the control panel 972.

Patient bed 970, therefore, has a sensor to sense presence of a user'sfoot in a designated region and movement of the user's foot into thedesignated region causes a preselected feature of the patient bed 970 tooperate. In the illustrative example, the designated region correspondsto light curtain 978. Thus, a suitable sensor is an IR receiver that ismounted near one end of bed 970 and that receives light from an IRtransmitter located near the opposite end of bed 970. In otherembodiments, a capacitive sensor or other type of proximity sensor isused in lieu of or in addition to the IR transmitter/receiver pair tosense the presence of the user's foot in the designated region.

Control panel 972 is used to select the preselected feature from among aplurality of bed features to be operated subsequently by movement of theuser's foot into the designated region. Bed 970 has a frame thatincludes a base frame and an upper frame supported above the base frame.Control panel 972 is coupled to the upper frame and the designatedregion is defined, such as by light curtain 978, beneath the base frame.Interruption of the light curtain 978 by the user's foot results inoperation of the preselected feature. In some embodiments, more than onepreselected feature is able to be selected for operation in response toplacement of the user's foot or really, any body part or object, intothe designation region. It is contemplated by this disclosure that handsfree operation of any one or more bed features in this manner is onlyactive for a short period of time (e.g., 2 to 5 seconds) after thepreselected feature is selected by the user. That is, the user mustinitiate the preselected action within a timeout period. Once initiated,the action itself will in many instances, take longer than the timeoutperiod.

Referring now to FIG. 109, a caregiver GUI 980 has a control panel 982that is used to control features and functions of a hospital bed (notshown, but similar to the various patient beds disclosed herein). Asshown in FIG. 110, a phone 984 has bed controls 986 displayed on itsdisplay screen for use in controlling features and functions of thehospital bed. Thus, GUI 980 and phone 984 can both be used by acaregiver to control a bed. The various icons on the display screens ofGUI 980 and phone 984 are substantially the same. That is, controls 982and controls 986 are substantially the same. It is contemplated by thisdisclosure that caregivers purchase the software application for theirphones 984 from the manufacture of the beds to be controlled by thephone 984.

Referring now to FIG. 111, a siderail 990 has a first style of caregivercontrol panel 992 mounted in a recess 994 (see FIG. 112) of a siderailbody 996. In FIG. 112, a second style of caregiver control panel 998 ismounted to the siderail body 996 and pivoted out of the recess 994. Eachof the control panels 992, 998 include a housing 1000 having a brow 1002projecting from its upper end to inhibit a patient from accessing userinputs of the control panel 992, 998.

Referring now to FIG. 113, a patient bed 1004 has caregiver controlpanels 1006 located on bottom portions of grip handles 1008 that extendfrom upper regions of a footboard 1010 toward a head end of the bed1004. FIG. 114 is a top plan view of the patient bed 1004 showing acaregiver using one of the control panels 1006 of the footboard griphandles 1008. As shown in FIG. 115, a head rail 1012 of the patient bed1004 has a grip handle 1014 at its foot end that pivots about 90°relative to a siderail body 1016 of the head rail 1012 to assist inpatient egress.

Referring now to FIG. 116, a patient bed 1018 has a telescopic liftsystem 1020.

Referring now to FIG. 117, a patient bed 1022 has an upper portion 1024mounted to a first type of base and lift system 1026. The upper portion1024 includes a mattress, a mattress support deck and associatedframework, an upper frame and siderails. FIG. 118 shows more detail ofthe first type of base and lift system 1026 of the bed 1022. Base andlift system 1026 includes a base frame covered by a shroud, casters, anda pair of vertically oriented telescopic lifts.

Referring now to FIG. 119, the upper portion 1024 of bed 1022 is mountedto a second type of lift system that includes vertical lift tubes 1028attached to corner regions of the upper portion 1024 thereby to form analternative bed 1022′. FIG. 120 is an enlarged perspective view of oneof the vertical lift tubes 1028. As shown in FIG. 120, each lift tube1028 includes a coupler 1030 that attaches to a mating coupler 1032 (seeFIG. 117) at the corner regions of upper portion 1024. Thus, upperportion 1024 is configured to attach to two different types of liftsystems.

Referring now to FIG. 121, a patient bed 1040 has a single lift column1042 that extends vertically between a base frame 1044 and an upperframe 1046 of the bed 1040.

Referring now to FIG. 122, a patient bed 1050 similar to the patient bed220 of FIGS. 23-26 has a vertically oriented spiral lift mechanism 1052extending between a laterally extending base portion 1054 and an upperframe 1056 of the bed 1050 at each end of the bed 1050. In FIG. 123, theupper frame 1056 is moved to a lowered position relative to the baseportions 1054 of the bed 1050.

Referring now to FIG. 124, an upper rail 1058 of a siderail 1060 has aline management clip 1062 in an opened position pivoted upwardly out ofa line receiving recess 1064 to allow patient care lines 1066 to berouted through the recess 1064. In FIG. 125, the line management clip1062 is moved to a closed position to engage and retain the patient carelines 1066 in the recess 1064.

Referring now to FIG. 126, a pair of line managers 1068 are eachattached to a top of a respective siderail 1070 of a patient bed 1072. Anotch 1069 is formed at a top of each manager 1068 for receipt ofpatient care lines. In FIG. 127 a double headed arrow 1074 indicatesthat the line manager 1068 is slideable along the top of the siderail1070 for repositioning.

Referring now to FIG. 128, a patient bed 1072 has a base 1074 with acentral portion 1076 that raises and lowers relative to caster brackets1078 (see FIG. 130) that are situated on opposite sides of the centralportion 1076. In FIG. 129, a caregiver is stepping downwardly on a footpedal 1080 to move the central portion 1076 of the base 1074 downwardly.As shown in FIG. 130, a caster 1082 is attached to an associated casterbracket 1078 and a linkage mechanism 1084 interconnects the casterbracket 1078 with the central portion 1076 of the base 1074 and allowsfor the central portion 1076 of the base to raise and lower relative tothe caster bracket 1078 when the linkage mechanism 1084 is actuated bythe foot pedal 1080 via rotation of the foot pedal 1080 in one directionor the other.

Referring now to FIGS. 131 and 132, a patient bed 1090 has an upperframe 1092 that includes longitudinal frame members 1094 that each havea central section 1096 dropped downwardly relative to head end and footend portions 1098, 1100 of the longitudinal frame members 1094. A pairof sleep deck drives 1102 extend generally in opposite directions from alateral frame member 1104 of the upper frame 1094 that extends betweenthe central sections 1096 of the longitudinal frame members 1094. Upperends of lift mechanisms 1106 attach to respective lateral frame members1108 that extend between the respective portions 1098, 110 of thelongitudinal frame members 1094.

Referring now to FIG. 133, a patient bed 1110 has an exercise machine1112 mounted to an upper frame 1114 of the bed 1110. Exercise machine1112 has first and second upside down U-shaped frame members 1116 and afolding longitudinal arm assembly 1118 that interconnects frame members1116. Arm assembly 1118 has a first arm 1120 and a second arm 1122 thatare foldable at a hinge type joint 1124. Exercise machine 1112 includesa seat 1126 that has a U-shaped channel member 1128 on it bottom formounting to arm 1122 of folding arm assembly 1118. Machine 1112 furtherhas a foot board unit 1130 with a footboard panel 1132, a connectorframe 1134 at one end of the panel 1132, and a pair of wheels 1136 at anopposite end of the panel as shown in FIG. 133. In use, a patient sitson seat 1126 and hooks their feet into loops or straps (not shown)provided on the inner surface of panel 1132 facing the patient. Thepatient then flexes and extends their legs to translate the seat 1126back and forth along arm assembly 1118.

As shown beds in FIG. 134, seat 1126 has a pair of grip handles 1138that are gripped by a caregiver standing alongside the bed to assist thepatient during use of machine 1112 if needed. In some embodiments,rollers or glide pads are provided inside channel member 1128 tofacilitate the movement of chair 1128 along arm assembly 1118.Furthermore, in some embodiments, chair 1126 swivels relative to channelmember 1128 about a vertical axis to permit a patient to egress andingress the chair 1126 with the chair 1126 facing toward a side of thebed 1110.

As shown in FIG. 135, a slot 1140 is formed in an end portion 1141 of afoot deck section 1142 of upper frame 1114 and a handle bar 1144 ofconnector frame 1134 of footboard unit 1130 inserts into slot 1140 tocouple the footboard unit 1130 to the bed 1110. Panel 1132 is thenrotated upwardly from the lowered position, shown in FIG. 135, andlocked into a raised use position, shown in FIG. 133. As shown in FIGS.136 and 137, when the exercise machine 1112 is decoupled from the bed1110 it is configured to be folded up for transport by a caregiver. Awheel is included in joint 1124 so that during transport, three wheelsroll along the floor, including the two wheels 1136 attached to panel1132 and the wheel included in joint 1124.

Referring now to FIG. 138, a patient bed 1150 includes a foot rail 1152that, in a raised position, has a foot pedal 1154 that a patient engagesand moves back and forth with the patient's foot as part of physicaltherapy. It is contemplated by this disclosure that both foot rails 1152have the pedal 1154 and associated physical therapy mechanism. As shownin FIG. 139, a therapy device 1156 is located inside the foot rail 1152between panels 1158 of the foot rail 1152. The therapy device 1156includes a slotted plate 1160 having a slider 1162 that attaches to arod 1163 of a gas cylinder damper 1164 and that slides along the plate1160 within a slot 1166. The foot pedal 1154 has an arm 1168 thatextends through a slot 1170 in one of the foot rail panels 1158 andpivotably couples to the slider 1162. The panel 1158 of the foot rail1152 that has the slot 1170 also has a storage recess 1172 that receivesthe foot pedal 1154 for storage when not in use. When the pedal 1154 isin the use position, the patient pushes on the pedal 1154 with thepatient's foot to compress the gas cylinder 1164 by pushing the rod 1163further into the cylinder. The gas cylinder 1164 then assists the footpedal 1154 in returning back to the starting position as the patientflexes the patient's knee. The patient repeats this cycle to performphysical therapy.

Referring now to FIG. 140, a patient bed 1180 is shown with a patientlying on a mattress 1182 of the bed 1180 and using a pedal mechanism1184 that is deployed from a footboard 1186 of bed 1180 for physicaltherapy. The pedal mechanism 1184 has a pair of pedals 1188 on oppositesides of a pedal support arm assembly 1190. The pedals 1188 are akin tobicycle pedals and are cycled around by the patient's feet duringphysical therapy. As shown in FIG. 141, the pedal mechanism 1184 is alsoused for physical therapy while the patient is in a sitting position onthe bed 1180 after the bed 1180 has been moved to a chair position. Asshown in FIG. 142, the footboard 1186 has a recess 1192 that receivesthe pedal mechanism 1184 for storage. In FIG. 143, the pedal mechanism1184 is deployed out of the recess 1192 for use by a patient.

Referring now to FIG. 144, a patient bed 1200 has a foot pad 1202 with aheel support 1204 and foot anchor straps 1206 attached to a foot board1208 of the bed 1200. A patient's feet are anchored to the foot pad 1202using straps 1206 while lying on the bed 1200. As shown in FIG. 145, thepatient flexes her knees to draw her body toward the footboard 1208 aspart of physical therapy. The bed 1200 has a pair of grip handles 1209that are grabbed by the patient during the physical therapy, if desired.As shown in FIG. 146, the footboard 1208 has a graphical display screen1207 that extends upwardly from a central region of the footboard 1208.It is contemplated by this disclosure that the display screen 1207displays information and messages pertaining to the physical therapy.

FIG. 147 shows the same bed 1018 that is shown in FIG. 116. In FIG. 148,a pair of disposable drainage canisters 1210 of bed 1018 is shown.Canisters 1210 are attached to a mattress retention wall 1212 of the bed1018 and are used for collection of fluids. As shown in FIG. 149, anupside down U-shaped grab bar 1214 is coupled to a bracket 1215extending from a base 1218 of the bed 1018 and is coupled to a chair1216 situated adjacent to the bed 1018.

Referring now to FIG. 150, a patient bed 1220 has a drainage bag holder1222 at the foot end 1224 of an upper frame 1226 of the bed 1220. Asshown in FIG. 151, the drainage bag holder 1222 has a sensor 1228 thatdetects the presence of a drainage bag 1230 (see FIG. 150) on the holder1222. As shown in FIG. 151, the drainage bag holder 1222 has avertically oriented plate 1232, a drainage bag bar 1234 that pivotablycouples to pivot tabs 1236 extending from the plate 1234, and a limitswitch 1228 (aka the sensor 1228 in the illustrative embodiment) that isreceived in a hole 1238 formed in the plate 1236. The limit switch 1228has a lever 1240 that is contacted and moved to a closed position by anarm 1242 extending from a shelf 1244 of the drainage bag bar 1234 when adrainage bag 1230 is attached to the bar 1234. The drainage bag holder1222 also has a pair of cosmetic trim pieces 1246 in the illustrativeembodiment that are situated on plate 1232 between respective pairs ofpivot tabs 1236.

Referring now to FIG. 152, a patient bed 1250 has a footboard 1252 thatis pivoted upwardly in the direction of the arrow 1254 into a positionoverlying a patient's legs so that the footboard 1252 serves as anoverbed table for the bed 1250. An arm 1256 supports footboard 1252 forpivoting movement relative to an upper frame 1258 of bed 1250. In theillustrative embodiment, a lower end of arm 1256 is situated between amattress retaining wall 1260 of upper frame 1258 and a mattress 1262 ofbed 1250. As shown in FIG. 153, the footboard 1252 is moved back to itsnormal position in the direction of arrow 1264 to serve as a traditionalfootboard 1252. As shown in FIG. 154, the footboard 1252 has a shallowrecess 1266 formed therein to help retain items on the footboard 1252when it is being used as an overbed table. As shown in FIG. 155, acaregiver is using a control panel 1268 that is included as part of thefootboard 1252.

Referring now to FIG. 156, a footboard 1270 has a pair of posts 1272extending downwardly from a main body 1274 of the footboard 1272. Theposts 1272 are pivotably coupled to the main body 1274. As shown in FIG.157, the footboard 1270 is attached to a patient bed 1276 and is pivoteddownwardly in the direction of arrow 1278 about the posts 1272 to serveas a foot extender for the bed 1276. The main body 1274 of footboard1270 has pad retaining wings 1280 to help retain a mattress pad on theportion of main body 1274 extending between the wings 1280.

Referring now to FIG. 158, a patient bed 1290 is in a chair positionwith a patient's feet resting atop a footboard 1292 that is attached toa foot section 1294 of the bed 1290 in a first orientation having a footprop bulge 1296 in the footboard facing downwardly toward a floor. InFIG. 159, the patient's feet are resting atop the foot prop bulge 1296when the footboard 1292 is attached to the foot section 1294 of the bed1290 in a second orientation. FIG. 160 also shows the patient's feetresting atop the foot prop bulge 1296. The foot prop bulge 1296 preventsfoot drop and enhances comfort for those patients who are shorter thanothers.

Referring now to FIG. 161, a patient bed 1300 has a split foot board1302 situated adjacent a foot end 1304 of the bed 1300 to serve as atraditional footboard. In FIG. 162, a first section 1306 of the splitfootboard 1302 is being pivoted about a vertical axis, as indicated bythe double headed curved arrow 1308, around a corner of a foot section1310 of the bed. As shown in FIG. 163, the footboard section 1306 issituated alongside the foot section 1310 of the bed 1300 and has a griphandle panel 1312 of the footboard section 1306 pivoted upwardly to araised position relative to another panel 1314 of the footboard. Griphandle pane 1312 is gripped by a patient during egress from bed 1300.

Referring now to FIGS. 164-167, a patient bed 1320 has a footboard 1322that includes a plurality of segments 1324 that are telescopicallycoupled together. The footboard 1322 has a raised position in which thetelescopic segments 1324 are in an expanded configuration as shown inFIGS. 164 and 166. The footboard 1322 also has a collapsed or loweredposition having the telescopic segments 1324 retracted into an uppermostsegment 1324 as shown in FIGS. 165 and 167. The lowermost segment 1324has a pair of posts 1326 extending downwardly therefrom for receipt insockets 1328 of a foot end frame member 1329 of bed 1320 as shown inFIGS. 166 and 167.

Referring now to FIG. 168, a patient bed 1330 includes a footboard 1332having a television unit 1334 moved upwardly to a raised position forviewing by a patient on the bed 1330. As shown in FIG. 169, thefootboard 1332 includes a main body 1336 that supports a pair ofspeakers 1338 for the sound of television unit 1334. As shown in FIG.170, the television unit 1334 has a lowered position stored inside thefootboard 1332. As shown in FIG. 171. Footboard 1332 includes a firstpanel 1340 with a decorative covering 1342 and a second panel 1344 witha decorative covering 1346. Second panel 1344 is formed to include a TVand speaker receiving recess 1348 that receives the television unit 1334and speakers 1338 therein. First panel 1340 attaches to the second panel1344 to retain the television unit 1334 and speakers 1338 in footboard1332. A decorative cap 1359 attaches to a top of the television unit1334 and aligns with a pair of handles 1337 of panel 1344 when thetelevision unit 1334 is in the lowered position.

Referring now to FIG. 172, a hospital bed 1360 includes an IV pole 1362having a flexible upper segment 1364 that extends upwardly from a rigidtube 1366 (e.g., a steel tube). Segment 1364 telescopes into and out oftube 1366. Tube 1366 is coupled at its lower end to a mounting socket1368 that has a notch 1369 which allows the IV pole 1362 to folddownwardly to a storage position. Hooks 1363 are mounted to an upper endof flexible segment 1364. As shown in FIG. 173, a standard IV pole 1361carrying a piece of equipment 1365 is being damaged due to contact ofthe pole 1361 or equipment 1365 with a head section 1367 of the bed1360. In contrast, in FIG. 174, the flexible segment 1364 deflects inresponse to the head section 1367 of the bed 1360 contacting the pole1362 or the piece of equipment 1365 carried by the flexible segment 1364of the IV pole 1362. The flexible segment 1364 is made of fiberglass orspring steel in some embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 175, a patient bed 1370 has an IV pole 1372 with acontact sensor (discussed below) that provides a signal to a bedcontroller (not shown) indicating that the IV pole 1372 is contacting anobstacle so that the bed controller can signal actuators (not shown) ofthe bed 1372 to take corrective action. In FIG. 176, a bed 1370′ havingan IV pole 1372′ without any contact sensor has the pole 1372′ beingdriven into a head wall unit 1373 due to tilting of an upper frame 1374of the bed 1370′. In the bed 1370 having IV pole 1372 with a contactsensor, when IV pole 1372 contacts head wall unit 1372 during tilting ofupper frame 1372, the contact sensor signals the bed controller to tiltupper frame 1374 in an opposite direction, indicated by arrow 1376 inFIG. 175, so that IV pole 1372 moves out of contact with head wall unit1372. Similar bed control occurs if IV pole 1372 encounters otherobstacles.

As shown in FIGS. 177 and 178, the IV pole 1372 has a telescopic pole1378 with segments 1378 a, 1378 b, 1378 c, a coupling socket 1380, and aload cell 1382 adjacent to the coupling socket 1380. Load cell 1382 isthe contact sensor in the illustrative embodiment. Load cell 1382 isfastened to a bracket 1384 at the bottom of socket 1380 via a pair ofscrews 1386 that extends through holes 1388 in bracket 1384 and threadsinto apertures 1390 of load cell 1382. A pivot pin 1392 couples a lowerend of segment 1378 c of pole 1378 to socket 1380. A notch 1394 isprovided in socket 1394 to allow pole 1378 to fold down for storage onbed 1370.

Referring now to FIG. 179, is a table 1400 having information pertainingto bed exit and patient egress alert modes of a patient bed. Table 1400has first, second, and third columns 1402, 1404, 1406. Each column 1402,1404, 1406 has three rows with a middle or second row each havingindicia associated with an exit/egress mode named in the first row. Incolumn 1402, the first row reads “BED EXIT” and the third row reads “2SENSITIVITIES, PATIENT SITS UP, PATIENT MOVES TO EDGE.” In column 1404,the first row reads “WANDERING ALERT” and the third row reads “SEPARATEFROM BED EXIT, ALERTS NURSE WHEN Pt. IS OUT OF BED, DOES NOT SOUNDALARM.” In column 1406, the first row reads “PATIENT EXIST ASSIST” andthe third row reads “PATIENT ACTIVATES BUTTON, LOWERS FOOT RAIL * IFEQUIPPED, RAISES HEAD, LOWERS KNEE, INFLATES SEAT * IF EQUIPPED, ALERTSNURSE, BRIGHTENS NIGHT LIGHT.”

Based on the information in table 1400, it should be understood that thepresent disclosure contemplates a patient bed that includes a patientposition monitoring system that has a first mode of operation in whichan alarm is generated at the patient bed and an alert message is sent toa nurse call system in response to a threshold amount of movement of apatient relative to the patient bed. The patient position monitoringsystem also has a second mode of operation in which an alert is sent tothe nurse call system but no alarm is generated at the patient bed inresponse to the threshold amount of movement of the patient relative tothe patient bed. The second mode, therefore, may be described as a“wander” mode and the alert sent to the nurse call system may beconsidered a “wander” alert. This corresponds to column 1404 of table1400. In the illustrative example, therefore, the threshold amount ofthe first and second modes corresponds to the patient being out of thepatient bed.

In some embodiments, the patient position monitoring system related totable 1400 has a third mode of operation in which an alarm is generatedat the patient bed and an alert message is sent to a nurse call systemin response the patient moving by a lesser amount than the thresholdamount relative to the patient bed. The lesser amount corresponds, forexample, to the patient sitting up in the patient bed or moving to theedge of the patient bed. This corresponds to column 1402 of table 1400.

As suggested in table 1400, the patient bed further includes a patientexit assist input that, when selected, results in one or more of thefollowing actions by the patient bed: at least one siderail of thepatient bed moves automatically from a raised position to a loweredposition; a head section of a mattress support deck of the patient bedraises to a predetermined position if the head section is lower than thepredetermined position when the patient exit assist input is selected; athigh and foot section of the mattress support deck of the patient bedlower, possibly to a flat position, if they are raised when the patientexist assist input is selected; and/or at least one bladder of an airmattress is inflated to a target pressure if the bladder has a lowerpressure than the target pressure when the patient exit assist input isselected. In some embodiments, the at least one bladder includes, or isincluded in, a seat section of the air mattress.

In some embodiments, an exit assist alert is sent from the patient bedto a nurse call system in response to the selection of the patient exitassist input. Alternatively or additionally, a night light of thepatient bed is illuminated brighter in response to the selection of thepatient exit assist input. In some embodiments, the patient exit assistinput includes a button that may be selected by pressing the button.However, a button or icon on a touch screen that is touched wouldsuffice just as well, as would other inputs such as switches, levers,knobs, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 180, a patient bed 1410 has the capability toproject a lighted image 1412 onto a floor adjacent to the bed 1410 toindicate to a patient a location of a bed exit zone which corresponds tothe area of the lighted image 1412. In the illustrative example, thewords “BED NOT LOW” appear in the image 1412 to alert the patient and/orcaregiver that an upper frame of the bed 1410 should be lowered prior toa patient exiting the bed. The words “EXIT ZONE” also appear in thelighted image in the illustrative example. Thus, words regarding thestatus of a bed feature (e.g., position of upper frame relative to lowerframe, casters braked/unbraked status, and siderail position status) areincluded in image 1412 according to this disclosure. In the illustrativeexample, the lighted image is generally semicircular in overall shape,but other shapes are within the scope of this disclosure, such assquare, round, triangular, rectangular, trapezoidal, hexagonal, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 181, a patient bed 1414 includes a footboard 1416having an icon 1418 that illuminates when a bed exit alarm system of bed1414 is armed. The icon 1418 provides a visual indication to the patientnot to get out of the bed 1414.

Referring now to FIG. 182, a patient bed 1420 includes a footboard 1422having a set of icons 1424 that are illuminated green to indicate asatisfactory status of an associated monitored bed feature and that areilluminated a color other than green (e.g., amber or red) to indicate anunsatisfactory status of the associated monitored condition. The iconsare unlit if the associated feature of the bed is not being monitored.In the illustrative example, the icons 1424 comprise translucentportions of a wall of the footboard 1422 and lights are situated in thefootboard behind the translucent portions. The lights may compriseindividual LED's of different colors for example (e.g., green and amberLED's behind each translucent portion) or multi-color LED's behind eachtranslucent portion.

Referring now to FIG. 183, a bed 1426, similar to the beds 720 of FIG.87, has the capability to project a set of icons 1428 onto the floornear a foot end 1427 of the bed 1426 and to project a message 1429 neara side of the bed 1426. The icons 1428 indicate statuses of monitoredfeatures of the bed and the message advises the patient to call a nurseif the patient desires to get out of the bed 1426 in the illustrativeexample. In some embodiments, the icons 1428 are illuminated green toindicate a satisfactory status of an associated monitored bed featureand are illuminated a color other than green (e.g., amber or red) toindicate an unsatisfactory status of the associated monitored condition.The icons are not projected onto the floor if the associated feature ofthe bed is not being monitored.

Referring now to FIG. 184, a patient bed 1430 has a footboard 1432 thatincludes a built-in foot warmer (not shown). In some embodiments, thefoot warmer comprises a heater 2200 as shown in FIG. 211. Bed 1434 isillustrated in FIG. 211 with components that are the same orsubstantially similar to those shown n FIG. 210 and so like referencenumerals are used for like components and the descriptions need not berepeated. In some embodiments, footboard 1432 is detachable from theframe of bed 1430 and so first and second electrical couplers 2202, 2204are provided in bed 1434 in the illustrative embodiment to accommodatethe coupling and decoupling of footboard 1432. Suitable couplers thatmate automatically when a footboard is attached to a bed frame and thatdecouple automatically when a footboard is detached from a bed frame areshown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,250 which is herebyincorporated by reference herein to the extent not inconsistent with thepresent disclosure which shall control as to any inconsistencies.

Referring now to FIG. 185, a patient bed 1434 has a footboard 1436 witha camera module or unit 1438 extending upwardly from a central region ofa foot board 1436. The camera module 1438 has a camera 1440 that facestoward a patient on the bed 1434 and a GUI display screen 1442. The bedhas control circuitry (not shown) that commands the camera 1440 to takea picture of the patient at substantially the same time as a patientweight reading is taken using a weigh scale system (not shown) of thebed 1434 and the GUI display screen 1442 displays the picture that wastaken. In some embodiments, the weight reading and picture aretransmitted from the circuitry of the bed 1434 for receipt by a remotecomputer.

Referring now to FIGS. 186-189, a patient bed 1444 has an RFID tagreader (not shown, but well known in the art) that reads RFID tags 1446of equipment placed on the bed 1444 so that a weigh scale system (seeblock 2110 of FIGS. 210 and 211, for example) of the bed 1444 canrecalculate a tare weight to account for the added equipment. Patientbeds having RFID readers are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No.7,679,520 and in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0236629which is hereby incorporated by reference herein to the extent notinconsistent with the present disclosure which shall control as to anyinconsistencies.

As shown in FIG. 187 in an enlarged window, a mattress control box 1447is an example of added equipment hanging on a footboard 1448 of the bed1444 but the teaching of this disclosure regarding FIGS. 186-188 isapplicable to all equipment that is added to a patient bed. In FIG. 188,a cover 1449 is removed from tag 1446 to expose a universal serial bus(USB) connector 1450 of the tag 1446. In FIG. 189, the RFID tag 1446 iscoupled to a USB port of a computer 1452 to be encoded with data to betransmitted wirelessly to bed 1444 and to have its battery (not shown,but well known in the art) charged. The data encoded or programmed intothe RFID tag includes weight data of the equipment to which the RFID tagis to be coupled. Connectors and ports other than USB connectors andports, are within the scope of this disclosure. Tag 1446 communicateswirelessly with the tag reader of bed 1444 to provide the weight data ofthe associated equipment to bed 1444. The tare weight of the scalesystem of bed 1444 is then updated based on the weight data transmittedfrom tag 1446.

Referring now to FIGS. 190-192, a siderail 1454 has a built in grabhandle 1455, a channel 1458 to receive a shaped edge of a controlpendant 1460, a recess and coupling bar 1456 for a urinal 1462, and abuilt in line manager 1464. In FIG. 192, a mattress 1466 is also shown.Thus, the present disclosure contemplates siderail 1454 having a urinaldock. In the illustrative embodiment, the urinal dock includes a recessfor a handle of the urinal 1462. Siderail 1454 includes coupling bar1456 that extends across the recess to retain the handle of urinal 1462in the recess when the urinal 1462 is docked to the siderail 1454. Therecess is open at a top edge of the siderail 1454 so the handle can bemoved into and out of the recess along a generally vertical path.

In the illustrative embodiment, grab handle 1455 of siderail 1454 issituated below the recess. Channel 1458 is complementary in shape to theshaped edge of the control pendant 1460. Line manager 1464 is locatedalong a top edge of the siderail 1454 and comprises a notch that issituated alongside the opening to the recess.

Referring now to FIG. 193, a patient bed 1470 includes a foam mattress1472 having integral foam side bolsters 1474 extending upwardly alongopposite sides of the mattress 1472. Bed 1470 also has a white noisegenerator/noise cancellation unit 1476 supported by an arm assembly 1478above a head section 1479 of the bed 1470.

Referring now to FIG. 194, a patient bed 1480 has sensors 1482 insurfaces, such as surfaces of one or more siderails 1484 and/or one ormore endboards 1486, of the bed 1480 to sense whether the bed is cleanor dirty. In some embodiments, the sensors 1482 detect cleaning agents.Bed 1480 also has a lighted sign 1488 on footboard 1486 of the bed 1480that displays a message to indicate whether the bed 1480 is clean ordirty. Thus, lighted sing 1488 faces away from a mattress of bed 1480.It is contemplated by this disclosure that, if sensors 1482 indicate thebed 1480 is clean and if a weigh scale system of bed 1480 indicates alow weight (e.g., low enough that it is assumed a patient is not on thebed), then the weigh scale of the bed 1480 is automatically zeroed.

Referring now to FIG. 195, a patient bed 1490 includes a disinfectantmister system (not shown). As shown in FIG. 196, each siderail 1492 ofthe bed 1490 has a mister spray nozzle 1494 through which a mist ofdisinfectant is delivered. In FIG. 197, the mist is shown beingdelivered from the nozzle 1494 downwardly onto user inputs 1496 of thesiderail 1492 to disinfect the user inputs 1496.

Referring now to FIGS. 198-200, a patient bed 1500 has directionalultraviolet (UV) lights 1502 included on siderails 1504 and a base 1506of the bed 1500 for infection control. As shown in FIG. 199, the UVlights 1502 on siderails 1504 are located above user inputs 1508 so thatthe UV light rays from lights 1502 disinfect the user inputs 1508. TheUV light 1502 on base 1506 also doubles as a night light for the bed1500. In an alternative embodiment of siderails 1504′ shown in FIG. 200,the siderail 1504′ has translucent grip portions 1510 and a steel frame1512 with UV light emitting diodes (LED's) 1514 mounted thereto. The UVlight rays from LED's 1514 pass through translucent grip portions 1510.

Referring now to FIG. 201, a patient bed 1520 has an egress seat 1522that deploys laterally outwardly from an upper frame 1524 of the bed1520 in a direction substantially perpendicular to a long dimension ofbed 1520. As shown in FIG. 202, a patient is sitting on the deployedegress seat 1522. In FIG. 203, a transport chair 1526 (aka a “wheeledchair”) has been wheeled up to the patient by a caregiver. The transportchair 1526 has horizontal arms 1528 that slide into channels 1530situated at the sides of the egress seat 1522 so that the patient issurrounded by portions of the bed 1520 and the chair 1526 during egressfrom the bed 1520 to the chair 1526. In FIG. 204, is the patient isshown sitting on a seat 1532 of the transport chair 1526. In FIG. 205,the horizontal arms 1528 of the transport chair 1526 are spaced from,and aligned with, the channels 1530 of the egress seat 1522. Arms 1528are oriented generally horizontally and are configured so that thepatient stands between the arms 1528 when moving from the egress seat1522 onto seat 1532. Thus, the arms 1528 and channels 1530 aresubstantially at the same elevation and oriented horizontally when anupper frame of the bed 1520 is in a lowered position relative to a baseof the bed 1520.

Referring now to FIG. 206, a patient room 1540 has a 3-dimensional (3D)sensor 1542 mounted to a panel 1544 of a headwall unit 1546. In FIG.207, a caregiver at a nurse's station 1547 is using a computer 1548 toview an image obtained by the 3D sensor 1542 in the room. The nursestation 1547 is remote from the room. In FIG. 208, the informationdisplayed on a display screen 1550 of the computer 1548 prior to aremote weight reading of the patient being taken using the computer 1548is shown. In FIG. 209, the information displayed on the display screen1550 after the weight reading is taken is shown.

It is within the scope of this disclosure for features in each of theembodiments disclosed in FIGS. 1-211 of the present application to becombinable into a single patient bed or system. For example, the presentdisclosure contemplates that cart 950 of FIGS. 103-105 and 210 can beconfigured for use with any of the patient beds disclosure herein. Asanother example, the turn assist panels 162, 164 of FIGS. 15 and 16 canbe used with any of the patient beds disclosed herein. Furthermore, anyof the patient beds disclosed herein can include the inductiverecharging system of bed 270 of FIGS. 33-38. Accordingly, allpermutations and combinations of features disclosed herein is intendedto be within the scope of this disclosure, including beds havingsiderails of one of the disclosed types on one side of the patient bedand siderails of another of the disclosed types on an opposite of thepatient bed.

In the various FIGS. 1-209 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/951,236 to which the present application claims benefit and which isincorporated by reference herein, additional textual information isprovided regarding the various embodiments disclosed herein. Thattextual information is considered to be part of the written descriptionof the present disclosure.

Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detailabove, many embodiments, variations and modifications are possible thatare still within the scope and spirit of this disclosure as describedherein and as defined in the following claims.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A patient bed comprising a frame configured tosupport a patient, and a plurality of siderails extending upwardlyrelative to the frame, each siderail of the plurality of siderailshaving an egress blocking position in which the patient is blocked fromegressing off of the frame, at least a first siderail of the pluralityof siderails having a user input accessible to the patient to unlock thefirst siderail for generally horizontal movement by the patient from theegress blocking position to an out-of-the-way position to permit thepatient to egress from the frame.
 22. The patient bed of claim 21,wherein the first siderail translates relative to the frame in alongitudinal direction of the patient bed when moving between the egressblocking position and the out-of-the way position.
 23. The patient bedof claim 22, wherein the first siderail comprises a foot rail of thebed, the plurality of siderails further comprises a head rail, andwherein at least a portion of the foot rail overlaps a portion of theheadrail when the foot rail is in the egress blocking position.
 24. Thepatient bed of claim 22, wherein the first siderail comprises a footrail of the bed, the plurality of siderails further comprises a headrail, and wherein at least a portion of the foot rail overlaps a portionof the headrail when the foot rail is in the out-of-the-way position.25. The patient bed of claim 21, wherein the user input comprises alever.
 26. The patient bed of claim 25, wherein the first siderail has ahand hole and the lever is accessible in the hand hole.
 27. The patientbed of claim 21, wherein the first siderail has a hand hole and the userinput is accessible in the hand hole.
 28. The patient bed of claim 27,wherein the first siderail has a grip handle over the hand hole, thegrip handle being grippable by the patient when moving the firstsiderail between the egress blocking position and the out-of-the-wayposition.
 29. The patient bed of claim 28, wherein the grip handle has astepped bottom surface to provide grip areas for the patient separatedby steps.
 30. The patient bed of claim 21, wherein the frame comprises alongitudinally extending frame member and a longitudinally extendingrail supported with respect to the longitudinally extending frame memberand wherein the first siderail is coupled to the longitudinallyextending rail for translational movement along the longitudinallyextending rail when moving between the egress blocking position and theout-of-the-way position.
 31. The patient bed of claim 30, wherein thelongitudinally extending rail is coupled to the longitudinally extendingframe member by tubes situated at the opposite ends of thelongitudinally extending rail.
 32. The patient bed of claim 30, furthercomprising a slider mounted on the longitudinally extending rail and atleast one link that interconnects the first siderail and the slider. 33.The patient bed of claim 32, wherein the at least one link comprises apair of links that are generally parallel and that extend between theslider and the first siderail.
 34. The patient bed of claim 32, whereinthe slider is normally locked to the longitudinally extending rail whenthe first siderail is in the egress blocking position and the slider isunlocked from the longitudinally extending rail in response to actuationof the user input by the patient.
 35. The patient bed of claim 34,wherein the first siderail, the at least one link, and the slider aremovable as a unit along the longitudinally extending rail when theslider is unlocked from the longitudinally extending rail.
 36. Thepatient bed of claim 35, wherein the slider becomes locked to thelongitudinally extending rail when the slider reaches a head end of thelongitudinally extending rail corresponding to the first siderail beingin the out-of-the-way position.
 37. The patient bed of claim 36, whereinthe first siderail includes a second user input that is accessible tothe patient to unlock the slider from the longitudinally extending railwhen the first siderail is in the out-of-the-way position.
 38. Thepatient bed of claim 21, wherein the plurality of siderails includes asecond siderail, wherein the second siderail blocks access to the userinput when the first siderail is in the out-of-the-way position andwherein the first siderail has a second user input that is accessible tothe patient to unlock the first siderail for movement by the patientfrom the out-of-the way position back to an egress blocking position.39. The patient bed of claim 38, wherein the first siderail includes afirst hand hole and a second hand hole, the user input is accessible inthe first hand hole, and the second user input is accessible in thesecond hand hole.
 40. The patient bed of claim 21, wherein the frameincludes a head section that supports the patient's torso and thatpivotably raises and lowers, wherein the plurality of siderails includesa head rail coupled to the head section to raise and lower therewith,and further comprising a pendulum cup holder that pivots relative to thehead rail due to the force of gravity to maintain a drink cup in asubstantially upright position as the head section raises and lowers.